Four Per Country to Two Per Nation? Awkward Prelims Setup Diminishes European Championships

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Benedetta Pilato -- Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Four Per Country to Two Per Country? Awkward Prelims Setup Diminishes European Championships

The first round of women’s 100 breaststroke competition at the European Championships Friday morning in Rome saw Arianna Castiglioni record the third-fastest qualifying time, and countrywoman Martina Carraro finish fourth. But neither swimmer was allowed to advance to the semifinals, a round ostensibly reserved for the top-16 swimmers.

What gives? Well, this is actually a hallmark of the European Championships. Four swimmers from each nation may compete in the prelims of an event, but only the top two swimmers can advance to the semifinals. Benedetta Pilato, the 17-year-old who captured the world title in this event earlier this summer, posted the fastest mark of the morning in 1:05.77, quicker than her gold-medal time from Budapest, while Lisa Angiolini, also of Italy, was second in 1:06.00.

In the semifinals, both swimmers had the luxury of swimming slower times because they only had to finish in the top-eight, not the top-two. On the other hand, swimmers such as Ruta Meilutyte and Sophie Hansson, who were third and sixth, respectively, at Worlds, could cruise through prelims with no swimmers from their own countries within range of knocking them out of the semis.

Saturday morning, the same thing happened in the women’s 400 IM, with Katinka Hosszu bounced out of the event after finishing fourth in prelims but third among Hungarians.

But the two-per-country after prelims rule should be no surprise to Castiglioni, Carrarro or Hosszu. Just last May, the two Italian swimmers went 1-2 in prelims at the continental championships, while Pilato failed to advance to the semifinals after posting the fourth-best time in prelims. Angiolini was a casualty of that same rule in that race, as she missed out despite placing 13th in the heats. Also at that meet, Hungary’s Zsuzsanna Jakabos got particularly unlucky when she finished fourth in the 200 butterfly prelims and fifth in the 400 IM prelims and did not advance to the semifinals in either event, with multiple Hungarians ahead of her, including Hosszu in both events. Hungary actually went 1-2-3-5 in 400 IM qualifying at that meet, with third-place swimmer Boglarka Kapas also missing the cut.

It had been the same story in 2018 and actually worse, with five swimmers placing third in prelims and not qualifying for the semifinals as the third fastest in their own country, all in men’s races: Great Britain’s Ross Murdoch (100 breaststroke), Hungary’s Bence Biczo (200 fly), Russia’s Grigory Tarasevich (100 back), Great Britain’s Duncan Scott (200 IM) and Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov (200 back).

The European meet is not alone as an international meet where swimmers’ primary competition in prelims might be those from their own country. At the Pan Pacific Championships, typically held every fourth year (but canceled in 2022), swimmers can race any events they choose in prelims, so sometimes more than four per country go in the heats, but only two can advance to each of the finals, championship and consolation. It’s the same battle between swimmers from the same country in the morning rounds, and that setup can produce odd results like in 2014, when Ryan Lochte won the B-final of the men’s 200 IM in a time that would have tied for gold in the A-final.

It’s just a silly format. Why allow so many swimmers in each event if only a couple can advance? Fred Vergnoux, who coached Mireia Belmonte to Olympic gold in 2016 and is now the lead coach for Belgium’s swimming federation, asked a simple question in a tweet: “Shouldn’t the fastest swimmers compete?”

He’s right. Certainly, qualification meets have a place in swimming, but once swimmers get to an international competition, they are representing their nation as part of a team. So why have women and men from the same country battling it out for spots in the semifinals while those from rival nations with less depth get to cruise through to the next round?

Other sports allow more than two per nation at international competitions, and even swimming followed that pattern at the recent Commonwealth Games. Australia swept gold, silver and bronze medals in five different events. Maybe the European Championships could follow that pattern, thereby allowing more swimmers per country into the meet resorting to a gimmick. That way, there would be no doubt that the fastest swimmers were competing.

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