The Week That Was: World Short Course Championships Adjusted to Fit With Olympic Games Schedule

venue-
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

The Week That Was is sponsored bySuit-extractor-logo

The Week That Was sponsored by Suitmate.

FINA announced this week that the 2021 World Short Course Championships will now be held a year after their intended date. Originally, the championships were to be held in December 2020 but they will now be held in December 2021, to fall in line with the original Olympic schedule. However, there have been some doubts that the Olympic Games might not be safe to hold next summer and IOC President Thomas Bach said that if the Games cannot go on in 2021, then they will not happen altogether.

In lighter news, Dean Boxall won the ASCTA coach of the year award in Australia, and Anton Chupkov was named to the official 30 Under 30 list by Russian Forbes Magazine.

Read below the five biggest stories in The Week That Was sponsored by Suitmate.

The Week That Was #5: Anton Chupkov Officially Selected For Russian Forbes 30 Under 30

anton-chupkov-

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

By Andy Ross

World record holder Anton Chupkov was officially named as a finalist for the 30 under 30 list by Russian Forbes Magazine.

Nearly a month ago, Chupkov had been announced as a finalist for Russian Forbes’ 30 under 30 list under the “sports and E-sports” category. On Tuesday, it was confirmed that he was officially on the list, finishing in the top three in the sports category, along with figure skater Alena Kostornaya and cybersportman Cyril Mikhailov.

The top 30 representatives of the rating will be published on the Forbes website in the second half of May and in the June issue of Forbes magazine.

#4: Dean Boxall Named ASCTA Coach of the Year

DeanBoxall and Ariarne Titmus

Dean Boxall and Ariarne Titmus – Photo Courtesy: Ian Hanson

By Ian Hanson, Oceania Correspondent

St Peters Western (Brisbane, Qld) Head Coach Dean Boxall has joined a “who’s who” of Australia’s legendary list of swim coaches after being named the 2019 Australian Swimming Coaches And Teachers Association (ASCTA) prestigious Coach of the Year today.

Boxall won the award for his efforts with Ariarne Titmus, Clyde Lewis and Mitch Larkin at last year’s Fina World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea.

The Week That Was #3: IOC President Thomas Bach: Tokyo 2021 Will Be Cancelled If Not Held in 2021

tokyo2021crop

Photo Courtesy:

By Liz Byrnes, European Correspondent

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach says the Tokyo Games would be cancelled if they are not held in 2021.

Doubt has been cast recently over whether the Olympics can go ahead as rescheduled from 23 July 2021 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori and Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto both suggested in April that the Games would be scrapped if they do not take place next year while Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe said they cannot take place unless the pandemic has been contained.

Bach has added his voice to proceedings, with understanding for Abe’s predicament with the novel coronavirus having infected more than 17,100 people in Japan, causing 797 deaths.

The head of the International Olympic Committee told the BBC:

“Quite frankly, I have some understanding for this, because you can’t forever employ 3,000 or 5,000 people in an Organising Committee.

“You can’t every year change the entire sports schedule worldwide of all the major federations.

“You can’t have the athletes being in uncertainty.”

#2: East Carolina University Cuts Swimming and Diving

Photo Courtesy: East Carolina Athletics

By Andy Ross

East Carolina University announced on Thursday it would cut four athletic programs as part of the school’s budget restructuring efforts from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Both men’s and women’s swimming and diving, and men’s and women’s tennis were the sports affected by the budget cuts, affecting 68 student athletes and nine coaches across the four programs.

According to WFMY News in Greensboro, North Carolina, the university will honor all scholarships of affected student-athletes who want to continue studying at East Carolina University and will complete their degree in four years. Under NCAA transfer rules, students are immediately eligible for competition when the students’ original institution discontinues the sport in which the student practiced or competed.

The Week That Was #1: World Short Course Championships Adjusted to Fit In Line With Olympics

FINA awards short course world championships to Abu Dhabi

Julio Maglione – the FINA president who will step down in 2021 – announces Abu Dhabi as 2020 host, now to be 2021 host – Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

By Craig Lord, Swimming World Editor-in-Chief

The short-course World Swimming Championships has been moved a year ahead to December 2021, FINA, the international federation, announced this morning in Lausanne, its base in Switzerland.

The decision to postpone the December 2020 event to the same place at a different time, namely December 13-18, 2021, will make the 2020 season one void of any major global event in swimming.

In further news, FINA announced that it will not hold its General Congress is traditional fashion during the showcase Long-Course World Swimming Championships, rescheduled to May, 2022, in Fukuoka, Japan. Instead of delaying its Congress in keeping with the delays swimmers and other athletes must endure due to the coronavirus pandemic, FINA will host a Congress in isolation from its membership on June 5, 2021 in Doha, Qatar.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x