{"id":422703,"date":"2020-03-16T04:13:14","date_gmt":"2020-03-16T11:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=422703"},"modified":"2020-03-16T04:44:13","modified_gmt":"2020-03-16T11:44:13","slug":"end-april-german-championships-in-doubt-as-olympic-bosses-quarrel-in-public-over-fate-of-tokyo-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/end-april-german-championships-in-doubt-as-olympic-bosses-quarrel-in-public-over-fate-of-tokyo-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"End-April German Championships In Doubt As Olympic Bosses Quarrel In Public Over Fate Of Tokyo 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Germany’s\u00a0swimming federation, the DSV,\u00a0<\/strong>will decide the fate of the German Swimming Championships<\/strong>, an Olympic qualifier event, this week after cancelling all federation aquatics events on Government advice issued late last week under coronavirus (COVID-19)<\/strong> containment measures.<\/p>\n

The April German Championships are in doubt as the country ramps up its coronavirus response and the virus statistics start to gallop: an estimated 162,687 people have been infected worldwide, with just under half of them in China (81,003 cases). An estimated 6,065 people have died, 3,085 of them in China. In just one day, Sunday saw\u00a0Italy’s death toll rise by 368 to 1,809, Spain recorded 97 more deaths for a total of 288, and France reported 29 deaths, giving a total of 120, while\u00a0 UK also experienced its biggest one-day leap in cases,\u00a014 new deaths taking the tota to 35 at what experts say is a moment “about four weeks behind Italy”.<\/p>\n

Further postponements and cancellations of major Olympic qualifier events are due just as leading International Olympic Committee<\/strong> members embark in a public disagreement in which Australia’s John Coates, in isolation, suggests that there is “no May deadline” and that the Olympic Games will go on, his words seemingly oblivious to the crisis unfolding in the world and the plight and struggle of athletes far and wide, many unable to access training facilities.<\/p>\n

Coates also revealed that 600 Chinese athletes are in a contained environment at the heart of the pandemic in Europe, telling the Sydney Morning Herald:<\/p>\n

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“The Chinese are in various parts of Europe and the last I heard is they\u2019re bringing them all together in a university in Paris where they\u2019ll be fully contained, 600 of them, and they will go straight from confinement there, straight into Japan. They won\u2019t put anyone on a plane who has got coronavirus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re all basically in serious lockdown. There will be instances … some athletes will catch it. Let\u2019s hope it\u2019s not serious and you\u2019ve got your two weeks to get through it.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Borders Closed As the Count of a Crisis Grows<\/h3>\n

From today, Germany’s borders are closed, all schools in the country are closed, home learning plans are being rolled out and the sports landscape is a virtual desert of cancelled and postponed events, with five members of Bundesliga football teams among almost 6,000 COVID-19 infections.<\/p>\n

On the basis of the current recommendations of the Federal Government, the DSV said that is was “cancelling all official DSV events with immediate effect. We strongly recommend local organizers of events outside the DSV’s responsibility to join this decision.” It added:<\/p>\n

“This decision is intended to protect the health of athletes, fans and all employees as best as possible. In the meantime, we will continue to consult intensively with our partners BMI (Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community), DOSB (German Olympic Committee), FINA, LEN and other institutions and closely monitor the current development … (this week) the DSV will publish more information about its Olympic sports and national teams.”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The German Championships, scheduled for Berlin from April 30-May 3, are as yet still on, an announcement due soon from the DSV at a time when many other sports, including the big professional sports, have cancelled events until at least the end of April and, in some cases, until the end of May.<\/p>\n

Germany does not rely entirely on its championships to select its Olympic team for Tokyo 2020, the event one where those not already qualified can add their names to the squad and those already qualified on the clock and on other criteria must race and show form, according to the selection policy of the DSV. Other designated events has also been ‘Olympic qualifier’ moments and it is likely that the DSV will look to other events over the course of the summer to make Tokyo 2020 decisions.<\/p>\n

New Zealand Trials Also In Doubt<\/h3>\n

New Zealand Swimming<\/strong> may also be forced to reconfigure or postpone its Olympic Trials and nationals after an update to Government containment measures<\/a> that reduces to 500 from 1,000 the number of people allowed to gather for events. More on that when the story develops.<\/p>\n

Olympic Bosses Quarrel In Public<\/h2>\n

\"tokyo2020-logo\"The Games, due to start July 24, also hang in the balance, among those calling for postponement until later in the year or 2021 Haruyuki Takahashi,\u00a0<\/strong>Tokyo 2020 Executive Board member<\/a>, and \u00a0Guy Learmonth<\/strong>, who captained the GB team at the European Indoor Athletics Championships last year and is an Olympic hopeful on the track over 800m. Learmonth tells The Guardian newspaper today<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no idea how bad this is going to get, and what we have seen so far might be the tip of the iceberg. Of course the IOC and the whole world wants a successful Olympics. But for that to happen I strongly believe the event needs to be postponed \u2013 unless the authorities can guarantee it will be business as usual, which I don\u2019t believe they can.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n