Dutch Swimming Federation Withdraws From Eindhoven World Cup Hosting Role

The fourth stop of the 2019 FINA World Cup circuit may be relocated after the Dutch Swimming Federation (KNZB) pulled out of hosting the meet. The event is now listed as “TBC” on FINA’s calendar of events.

According to the Federation, the competition was originally slated for September 27-29, 2019 in Eindhoven as a stop in the second World Cup cluster. After a full evaluation, the withdrawal came from financial concerns as well as conflict with the upcoming FINA Champions Swim Series.

“After a thorough evaluation with all parties involved, we have decided to return the organization of the World Cup competition to FINA,” says André Cats, technical director of the KNZB.

The organization stated that they believe interest in the World Cups may be low with both meet series happening in the same year. Similarly, they think a short-course meters meet series within one year of the 2020 Olympic Games will not bring in many swimmers.

Last year’s Eindhoven event featured numerous World, World Junior and National Records. Vlad Morozov, who broke his own world record in the 100 IM, led the way and is a frequent competitor in the World Cup Series. Kathleen Baker set an American record in the 100 back (55.91) while China’s Wang Jianjiahe was another record-breaker from the meet, setting a new world junior record in the women’s 400 free (3:54.63), breaking the old record by nearly 5 seconds.

Currently, six World Cup stops still remain:

Tokyo, Japan (August 2-4)
Jinan, China (August 8-10)
Singapore (August 15-17)
TBC
Budapest, Hungary (October 4-6)
Kazan, Russia (November 1-3)
Doha, Qatar (November 7-9)

The Champions Swim Series will kick off about one month after the Eindhoven withdrawal. Competition will begin in Guangzhou, China from April 27-29 before heading to Budapest, Hungary (May 11-12) and Indianapolis, USA (May 31-June 1).

FINA has yet to comment on the Federation’s withdrawal from its hosting responsibilities.

The KNZB contributed to this report.

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