Doha, an “uncomfortable” World Championship on the calendar and with the absence of big figures

The Water Sports World Championship in Doha (Qatar) was scheduled for November last year, but it had to be postponed until February 2024 because Covid-19 forced the Fukuoka one to be modified twice: first because of the Olympic Games and when it was going to be held in 2022, it was postponed to 2023 due to the appearance of a new outbreak in Japan.

The changes forced the schedule to be adjusted and the Doha World Championship (from February 2 to 18) came at an uncomfortable time, as swimming figures focus on their preparation for the Paris Olympic Games. Thus, the competition will have the absence of several of the stars.

The United States will have only 18 swimmers (only five women) compared to the 48 that were present in Fukuoka and the big absentee is Katie Ledecky, winner of 16 individual world titles (she beat Michael Phelps in Japan) and who had six consecutive titles in the 800 freestyle. Caeleb Dressel (seven-time Olympic champion) and Ryan Murphy (world champion in the 100 backstroke) will not be in Doha either, where Hunter Armstrong (50 back) and Kate Douglass (200 medley) will seek to defend their titles.

The United States was the country with the most medals in Japan with 38, but it was Australia that won the most titles (13) and the Oceanic team will also have important absences such as those of the Fukuoka champions Kaylee McKeown (50, 100 and 200 back), Mollie O’Callaghan (100 and 200 free), Ariarne Titmus (400 free), Kyle Chalmers (100 free) and Sam Short (400 free). Cam McEvoy (current 50-freestyle world champion) and three-time world record holder Shayna Jack will lead the team

Behind Australia and the United States in the last World Cup was China with 16 medals (five gold medals), and Asians will also have important absences such as those of Zhang Yufei (Olympic champion in Tokyo in 200 butterflies and the world champion in the 100 in the same discipline) and Qin Haiyang (four gold medals in Fukuoka 2023 and owner of the world record in the 200 chest). Among the 21 swimmers, Li Bingjie and Pan Zhanle (the fifth fastest in the history of the 100 freestyle) stand out.

Canada, on the other hand, will not have any of its Fukuoka medalists in Qatar, including one of the greatest appearances in world swimming, Summer McIntosh, who won gold in 200 butterfly and 400 medleys. Neither will Maggie MacNeil and Josh Liendo, who won silver in the 100 butterfly. Katerine Savard, an Olympian in London, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, leads the team.

Among the figures who confirmed their presence in Doha, the Swedish Alli Sjöström stands out, who won gold in Fukuoka in the 50 freestyle and 50 butterfly and has accumulated 12 world titles. Great Britain, for its part, confirmed the return of Adam Peaty (he was not in Budapest 2022 due to a foot injury and was absent in Fukuoka 2023 away from sports to prioritize his mental health) and the presence of Matt Richards (world champion in the 200 freestyle).

One of the questions among women is for the Lithuanian Rūta Meilutytė, two-time world champion in 50-100 breasts, while France has not yet confirmed whether the team will include its star, Léon Marchand, who should defend the titles in 200 butterfly and 200 and 400 medleys. One who would be absent is the young Romanian David Popovici, who holds the world record in the 100 freestyle.

The World Water Sports Championship in Doha will be the first international competition in which athletes from Russia and Belarus, who were sanctioned by World Aquatics for the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, will be allowed to participate. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that they will be able to participate in the Olympic Games as neutrals and individually. Kliment Kolesnikov, one of the stars of Russian swimming, announced that he will not be in Paris under these conditions.