The Week That Was: Trio Of Athletes Suing FINA Over Antitrust Violations

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Michael Andrew; Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

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The biggest news of the week is a new lawsuit against FINA from three prominent international swimmers, including two Olympic gold medalists, related to the organizations threats to sanction swimmers competing in International Swimming League competitions. Catch up on that story and some of the fast swimming from across the country that happened in the week that was!

The Week That Was #5 – Adam Peaty And Cate Campbell Publicly Blast FINA

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Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr/Swimming Australia Ltd.

This week Olympic gold medalist Adam Peaty and Cate Campbell publicly criticized FINA, the international governing body of swimming, this week. Campbell was the first to speak out, saying that the organization is “forgetting they exist because of athletes.” Peaty also chimed in with a similar sentiment, saying that it feels like the sport is still in the 1970’s and imploring FINA to take time “to listen to the athletes and hear what they want.”

The Week That Was #4 – Pellegrini Back In 200 Free At Short Course Worlds

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Photo Courtesy: SIPA USA

This week FINA released the psych sheet for the 2018 FINA World Short Course Championships that are set to begin this upcoming week in Hangzhou, China. Notably, long course world record holder Federica Pellegrini will be racing in the 200 free after insisting at a TYR Pro Series meet last spring that she was done racing the event internationally. The USA is sending a very strong team to the meet, including Ryan Murphy, Caeleb Dressel, and Kathleen Baker, along with a stacked international field including Chad le Clos and 2018 World Cup winner Vlad Morozov. You can see the full psych sheet for the meet here, and follow along with all of the results throughout the week here.

The Week That Was #3 –  Durden, Meehan Named Head Coaches For 2020 Olympic Team

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Photos Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

USA Swimming announced that Dave Durden and Greg Meehan will be the head coaches for the U.S. Team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Durden will lead the men’s team, while Meehan will lead the women’s team. Durden is the has been the head coach of the Cal men’s swimming and diving program since 2007 and has won three national titles (2011, 2014, and 2015). Meehan has been the head coach at for the Stanford women’s swimming and diving program since 2012, most recently winning two back to back NCAA titles in 2017 and 2018. The two coaches previously worked together at Cal, with Meehan serving as Durden’s assistant from the fall of 2008 to the spring of 2012.

The Week That Was #2 – NAG Records Tumble At Speedo Winter Junior Meets

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Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

The 2018 Speedo Winter Junior Nationals were underway in Austin, Texas and Greensboro, North Carolina this week. There were tons of National Age Group Records that came down throughout the week, including Regan Smith taking down one of the oldest record from Mary T Meagher in the 200 fly (1:51.24) that had stood since 1981. Luca Urlando also had a big record at the Winter Juniors – West meet, taking down Michael Phelps’ 15-16 NAG record in the 200 fly (1:40.91). At Winter Junior – East, two sets of siblings stole the show: the Walsh sisters (Alex and Gretchen) and Foster brothers (Jake and Carson). All four threw down some amazing times, including Gretchen putting up some impressive relay splits (21.52 and 46.78), Alex throwing down a 1:53.69 in the 200 IM, and the Foster brothers contributing to several relay NAG records. You can catch up on all of the biggest swims from the Juniors East and Juniors West meets on our event coverage pages.

The Week That Was #1 – Tom Shields, Michael Andrew, And Katinka Hosszu Bring Lawsuit Against FINA

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Michael Andrew; Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

This week a trio of professional swimmers filed a lawsuit against FINA in U.S. district court for antitrust violations. The three swimmers — Hungarian Katinka Hosszu and Americans Michael Andrew and Tom Shields — are suing based on FINA’s threat to sanction any swimmer’s that were to compete in an International Swim League event. The lawsuit states that the governing body’s behavior unlawfully restrains competition in the market. This comes on the heels of the proposed Energy For Swim meet in Italy being canceled, an event which FINA threatened to sanction any athletes competing for up to two years. FINA also responded with their own statement to the lawsuit, which you can read here. You can read the full lawsuits from Shields, Andrew, and Hosszu here.

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