By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
World Aquatics has reportedly called on Polish officials to change their stance on allowing Russians to compete at next month’s European Short Course Swimming Championships in Lublin.
On Oct. 23, Dmitry Mazepin, the president of the Russian Aquatics Federation, announced that the Russian swimmers would not be racing at SC Euros.
Mikhail Degtyarev, the Russian Sports Minister and Chairman of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), called it a flagrant violation of the fundamental principles of the Olympic Charter, and noted that Russia would call on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to reassess Poland’s decision, referencing how it reacted when Indonesia denied entry to Israeli athletes last month.
The IOC told its members not to host any events in Indonesia after the country denied Israeli athletes entry for the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
“In the case of Poland, we haven’t even seen a formal condemnation yet,” Degtyarev said, according to Match TV. “This is a clear double standard. We expect the IOC to be consistent in upholding Olympic principles and athletes’ rights to equal participation in international competitions.”
However, on Oct. 27, Mazepin told Russian state-sponsored news agency TASS that World Aquatics called on Poland to address its restriction on disallowing Russian swimmers to compete at the meet as neutral athletes.
“We are grateful to World Aquatics for its prompt support and the request to the relevant European bodies,” Mazepin said, according to TASS. “Over the past year, our athletes have been granted the right to compete as neutrals in world championships in Hungary and Singapore, as well as in European cups.
“World Aquatics continues to serve as an example for other organizations, making it clear that sports should be free of politics and the principles of the Olympic Charter should be respected.”
Although World Aquatics has allowed Russian athletes to compete at its recent major championships as neutrals, including the 2024 World Short Course Championships and the 2025 World Aquatics Championships, European Aquatics has maintained its restrictions on barring Russians and Belarusians from competing in senior events, up until recently.
On Thursday, SwimSwam reported that European Aquatics would follow the new World Aquatics guidelines that allow Russians to compete in team events, though its status regarding the 2025 SC Euros was still unknown.
The 2025 European Short Course Swimming Championships are scheduled to be held in Lublin, Poland from December 2-7. Lublin is only about 50 miles from the border with Ukraine and even closer to the nearest border with Belarus.
Russia has not competed at the European SC Championships since 2023, when it played host in Kazan and led all nations with 11 gold medals.
At the 2024 SC World Championships last December, Russia’s athletes won six gold medals, competing under “Neutral Athletes ‘B'”, with Miron Lifintsev sweeping the men’s 50 and 100 back, Ilya Borodin winning the men’s 400 IM, and the team winning three relays, including setting a new world record in the men’s 4×100 medley.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: World Aquatics Calls On Poland To Allow Russians At SC Euros, Russian Aquatics Head Says
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