It Rains In Spain Too: the nation of Olympic 200m butterfly champion Mireia Belmonte, became the latest in a wave of countries suspending Olympic trials, national and other major championships today when it announced the Royal Spanish Swimming Federation (RFEN) announced this evening that the Spanish Championships due in Sabadell from April 1-5 have been postponed until further notice.
On recommendation of the Spanish Health Ministry in the midst of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the RFEN cancelled the planned meet, which also served as selection trials for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, to avoid “the risk posed by a massive concentration of athletes, even without an audience” and the potential consequences.
Further, Spain noted that closures of some but not all training facilities had “caused unequal competitive conditions” and as such it would be not only unsafe but unfair to proceed with the national championships.
The federation stated:
“The RFEN is aware that the suspension of this competition deprives Spanish swimmers of the opportunity to qualify for various international competitions. Undoubtedly, new selection criteria will have to be addressed, which will be communicated as soon as a concrete proposal can be made, once the situation stabilises and, we hope, improves the situation in Spain and we also have confirmation that international events at risk of being cancelled will actually take place.”
Members of the federation will be kept informed off developments.
The Spanish cancellation was one of many this day, the French Junior nationals gone, as are the NCAA Championships, a 30-day suspension of events by USA Swimming, the. there was the cancellation of the Danish Open and Olympic Trials, the Swim Open, Stockholm, a Norwegian lockdown that cancelled sport, FINA postponements and cancellations and a plea from Italy to halt the Olympic Games to avoid Tokyo 2020 going ahead in July when many of the world’s best swimmers may no longer be in the kind of shape they would have been but for the pandemic and its knock-on effects.
An Extraordinary Day In Swimming History:
- NCAA Cancels Winter Championships, Including Swimming And Diving
- USA Swimming to Cancel All Events For 30 Days Amidst Coronavirus Pandemic
- France Cancels Junior Nationals On Extraordinary Day In Swim History Ahead of Crunch Decision On Olympic Trials
- Scandinavian Swimming Shutdown: Danish Open, Olympic Trials, Swim Open Stockholm Off; Pools Shut & Norway Bans All Sport Events In Coronavirus Lockdown
- FINA Confirms Postponement of the Men’s Olympic Water Polo Qualifier in Rotterdam
- FINA Cancels/ Postpones Swathe Of Aquatic Events Due To Coronavirus Pandemic, Some Decisions Pending
- Peaty, Anderson & Co Set For Edinburgh Against The Backdrop Of Coronavirus
- Italian Struggle To Find Swimming Pools To Train In Sparks #stopolympics Coronavirus Lockdown Campaign
- The Soak – WADA Warns Of Unintended Consequences As Rodchenkov Act On Whistleblowing Takes Step Closer To Becoming U.S. Law
- British Olympic Association & Athletes Reach Agreement Over IOC Rule
- WHO Set To Give ‘Basic Thoughts’ On Olympics & Coronavirus As Unrepentant Tokyo 2020 Board Member Sounds “Warning Bell”
- NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships Now Closed to Spectators
And that followed this:
- COVID-19 Leads Argentina to Cancel South American Championships
- Ivy League To Cancel All Athletic Events Through Remainder Of Spring
Guidance on Water and Coronavirus
Hopefully it will be rescheduled.