Swimming paves the way for the return of Russia and Belarus

Following the recommendation of the International Olympic Committee on March 28, the International Swimming Federation, World Aquatics, confirmed this Wednesday that it will begin working to reinstate individual athletes from Russia and Belarus who meet the conditions imposed by the IOC to be able to participate internationally as neutrals.

Aruban Maureen Croes, president of Panam Aquatics, will chair the working group that will include “athletes and representatives of the entire aquatic community”. Although they will begin meeting “immediately” and will soon submit a recommendation to the highest authorities of World Aquatics, we will have to wait until July for final decisions. It is expected that there will be more details at the meeting that the Bureau of the International Federation will have during the World Championship in Fukuoka, Japan, which will take place between July 14 and 30.

In the same statement, World Aquatics reaffirmed its commitment to Ukrainian athletes, in particular those affected by the invasion of their country: “We will continue to give priority to measures aimed at supporting the aquatic community in Ukraine, together with the national swimming federations, the National Olympic Committees, the International Olympic Committee and the European Swimming Federation,” they said in the last paragraph of its official publication. Along the same lines, it stressed that the ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes is still in force, as is the impossibility of designating cities in either country to organize international tournaments. It is for this last reason that World Aquatics decided in February that Singapore will host the 2025 World Cup instead of Kazan, the capital of the Russian region of Tatarstan.

If there is an opening, it will be under the recommendations of the IOC: individual athletes (not teams, in the case of water polo) who have not publicly spoken out in favor of the war nor represented the Army. In all cases, they will be identified as neutral, unable to carry flags or sing their hymns.

The Olympic classification of pool races, through minimum marks, began on March 1, 2023. Although this opening is not specifically aimed at the Olympic Games, since the IOC has insisted that a decision will not be rushed, the reality indicates that competing again will open the door for the participation of Russia and Belarus in Paris 2024.