{"id":485651,"date":"2021-08-23T06:30:10","date_gmt":"2021-08-23T13:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=485651"},"modified":"2021-08-23T06:31:18","modified_gmt":"2021-08-23T13:31:18","slug":"the-week-that-was-australia-not-sending-full-team-to-short-course-worlds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/the-week-that-was-australia-not-sending-full-team-to-short-course-worlds\/","title":{"rendered":"The Week That Was: Australia Not Sending Full Team to Short Course Worlds"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Week That Was sponsored by Suitmate.<\/em><\/p>\n

Over the past week, the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to affect swimming as Swimming Australia announced it will cancel its Short Course Nationals and send a limited team to the Short Course World Championships in Abu Dhabi. Also out of Australia,\u00a0Chris Mooney<\/strong>, who just coached\u00a0Kaylee McKeown<\/strong> to two Olympic gold medals, has taken a new job, and McKeown’s future is unknown, while the International Swimming League announced some new details about its soon-to-begin 2021 season.<\/p>\n

Read the five biggest stories of the week in The Week That Was sponsored by Suitmate.<\/p>\n

The Week That Was #1: <\/strong>Swimming Australia Cancels Short Course Nationals; Will Not Send Official Squad to Short Course Worlds<\/strong><\/h3>\n
$\"Aug$
Australia’s gold-medal-winning 400 medley relay team from the Tokyo Olympics — Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher\/USA Today Sports<\/p><\/div>\n
By David Rieder<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n
Swimming Australia has announced that it will cancel its Short Course National Championships scheduled for late September in Melbourne and that it will not send a representative team to the FINA Short Course World Championships, due to take place December 15-20 in Abu Dhabi. The decision was made as a result of strict travel and quarantine restrictions in Australia resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
Swimmers traveling to Abu Dhabi would have to quarantine in Australia upon returning to the country, and that would cover the entire Christmas and New Years\u2019 period, so Swimming Australia decided against sending a representative team. However, the organization said it would support swimmers interested in attending if they had met the qualification standards and assist in travel and accomodations. Up to 20 Australians would be allowed to attend the meet.<\/p>\n
Swimming Australia CEO\u00a0Alex Baumann<\/strong>\u00a0said in a press release: \u201cThis is an unfortunate situation and again a decision we did not take lightly, but we needed to provide our swimming community with some certainty and with the borders being so unstable and regular lockdowns still occurring we feel this is the right decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Currently, Australia\u2019s entire Olympic team remains in quarantine after returning from the Tokyo Olympics. Because of COVID-19 concerns, every traveler entering Australia is required to isolate for 14 days, regardless of vaccination status or test results. Australia has had lowers COVID-19 case and death numbers than most countries during the pandemic, but recent spikes in virus cases have been cause for concern.<\/p>\n
Australia is coming off\u00a0an extremely impressive performance at the Tokyo Olympics<\/a>. The country won nine gold medals and 21 total medals in swimming, after capturing just 10 medals at each of the last two Olympics and only four gold medals combined.\u00a0Emma McKeon<\/strong>\u00a0won seven medals, the most of any female swimmer in a single Olympics, and she joined teammates\u00a0Ariarne Titmus<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Kaylee McKeown<\/strong>\u00a0in winning two individual gold medals each.<\/p>\n
#2:\u00a0<\/strong>Eindhoven Selected as ISL Host City For Playoff Phase of Competition<\/strong><\/h3>\n $\"_MineKasapoglu_$
Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu\/ISL<\/p><\/div>\n
By John Lohn<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n
The\u00a0International Swimming League<\/a>\u00a0(ISL), which will begin its third season later this month, has announced that Eindhoven will serve as the host city for the playoff phase of the season. The Dutch city will be the focal point of the campaign from November 11-28, with the league\u2019s top eight teams battling for a spot in the Grand Final, which is scheduled for January.<\/p>\n
The ISL regular season, which features the league\u2019s 10 clubs, is scheduled for August 26-September 26, with Naples, Italy serving as the host. While some of the top names in the sport have opted for a break from competition following the Olympic Games in Tokyo, many of the sport\u2019s superstars will be in action when the third season gets underway.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2019We are very happy that Eindhoven is ready to join Naples, Budapest, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and others on the list of exciting cities the ISL has partnered with,\u201d said ISL Founder and President\u00a0Konstantin Grigorishin<\/strong>. \u201cThe Dutch are knowledgeable and passionate swimming fans, who I am sure will be delighted to see local stars such as\u00a0Ranomi Kromowidjojo<\/strong>,\u00a0Kira Toussaint<\/strong>,\u00a0Femke<\/strong>\u00a0Heemskerk<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Arno Kamminga<\/strong>\u00a0in action.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Kamminga, who will be representing Aqua Centurions in Season Three,\u00a0won silver medals in the 100 and 200 breaststroke events at the Tokyo Olympics<\/a>. Three-time Olympic champion Kromowidjojo will swim for Team Iron, and Toussaint and Heemskerk will represent London Roar and Energy Standard, respectively.<\/p>\n
The Week That Was #3: Chris Mooney To Spearhead Bond University After Tokyo Glory; Kaylee McKeown\u2019s Future Is Undecided<\/strong><\/h3>\n $\"Kaylee-McKeown\"$
Chris Mooney (left) with Kaylee McKeown, who won three gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics — Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr\/Swimming Australia<\/p><\/div>\n
By Ian Hanson<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n
Chris Mooney<\/strong>, the man who steered\u00a0Kaylee McKeown<\/strong>\u00a0to triple gold at this year\u2019s\u00a0Tokyo Olympics<\/a>, has been appointed as the new Head Swimming Coach at Bond University on Queensland\u2019s Gold Coast \u2013 but it remains to be seen whether his golden girl will join him.<\/p>\n
Mooney has been the Head Coach of the successful USC Spartans Swimming program at the University of the Sunshine Coast for the past six years and takes over at Bond following the departure of\u00a0Richard Scarce\u00a0<\/strong>to Rackley Swimming\u2019s Miami Swimming Club.<\/p>\n
McKeown, who along with\u00a0Emma McKeon\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Ariarne Titmus<\/strong>, became the golden girls of Australia\u2019s most successful Olympic campaign in Tokyo, said she and Mooney had spoken about the move but she had made no decisions about her future.<\/p>\n
\u201cChris and I are very close and we have achieved a great amount together on the Sunshine Coast at USC and he will be a great asset to the Bond program,\u201d McKeown said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have talked about it and will continue to talk\u2026now that I have arrived back in Australia after the Olympics and have some break time and time out of the water to carefully consider what is best for me and my swimming moving forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have not made any decisions as yet and will keep talking with the people close to me to make the very best decisions. I am due back in the water in 7-8 weeks or so and will make my decisions during that time.\u201d<\/p>\n
#4: <\/strong>Vietnam Swim Coach Huang Guohui Found Dead in Quarantine upon Return from Olympics<\/strong><\/h3>\n $\"\"$
Photo Courtesy: Competitor<\/p><\/div>\n
By Matthew De George<\/em><\/p>\n
Huang Guohui<\/strong>, the coach of Vietnam\u2019s swim team at the Tokyo Olympics, was found dead during a quarantine upon his return to Vietnam. He was 57 years old.<\/p>\n
Huang, who is from China and also known by the Vietnamese name of\u00a0Hoang Quoc Huy<\/strong>, died in a hotel in Hanoi during a 14-day isolation\u00a0after returning from Tokyo<\/a>. The news\u00a0 was first reported by Vietnamese Express<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The cause of death has not been determined, though a Vietnamese spokesman said in a media report that Huang had been vaccinated for COVID-19. Vietnamese Express is reporting that it is being investigated as a possible suicide.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoach Huang passed away on August 11,\u201d Vietnam Chef de Mission\u00a0Tran Duc Phan<\/strong>\u00a0said in a statement. \u201cWe are in isolation, so we don\u2019t know the situation yet and we are waiting for the result of the police investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Huang has been working with Vietnamese swimmers since 2003. He\u2019s led them through several successful campaigns at the Asian Games and the Southeast Asian Games, which are the more important barometers of the program\u2019s growth. Vietnam is due to host the 2021 SEA Games in Hanoi starting in late November.<\/p>\n
The Week That Was #5: <\/strong>New Zealand Olympian Ali Galyer Announces Retirement<\/strong><\/h3>\n $\"Ali-Galyer\"$
Ali Galyer of New Zealand — Photo Courtesy: Simon Watts\/www.bwmedia.co.nz<\/p><\/div>\n
By Matthew De George<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n
New Zealand Olympian\u00a0Ali Galyer<\/strong>\u00a0on Monday announced her retirement from swimming, after competing for her country at the Tokyo Games.<\/p>\n
Galyer made the announcement via social media.<\/p>\n
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A post shared by Ali Galyer (@aligalyer)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n