Swimming Canada has announced its selection procedures for the 2024 Doha World Aquatics Championships. As World Aquatics continues to try and unwind the logjam of meets caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, this will be the most unusual of World Aquatic Championships – held in the same calendar year as the Olympic Games.
While many countries have not yet shown their hand as to how they will approach the meet, Canada is one of the first major world swimming powers to unveil its qualifying criteria.
The Fukuoka 2023 World Championships for the pool and open water team (July 2023) will act as the first selection competition for the 2024 worlds. The Canadian Swimming Championships (Aug. 1-6 at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre), the Canadian Open Water Festival (Aug. 12 in Welland, Ont.), the World Junior Swimming Championships (Sept. 4-9 in Netanya, Israel) and the Pan American Games (Oct. 21-25 in Santiago, Chile) will also be used for specific priorities within the selection process.
How Canada will handle the inevitable scheduling conflicts that arise from the timing of the World Championships remains to be seen. For one, those Canadians swimming in the American collegiate system will face conflicts with their conference championship meets. Among the most notable is Josh Liendo, the country’s top male sprinter and one of the best in the world, who will be due at the SEC Championships for the Florida Gators at the same time as he would be due in Doha, Qatar for Canada.
Swimmers are expected to be part of the delegation from January 26 through February 19, 2024, including the pre-championship training camp.
Canada’s U Sports national collegiate championship has not yet announced its dates for the 2023-2024 season, but the normal competition rates for that meet would be very quickly off the turnaround from Worlds.
Swimmers have until July 9, 2023 to declare themselves available for the team.
Pool Selection
Canada will send up to two swimmers per event, plus a head coach and up to five additional team coaches, for the 2024 World Championships.
Canada will only select its 2024 World Championship team based on results in Olympic Events (so no stroke 50s – those spots will be filled by swimmers already on the team). All individual performances, including relay lead-offs, are eligible for consideration under the selection procedures from the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, 2023 World Junior Championships, and 2023 Pan American Games, plus the 2023 Speedo Canadian Swimming Championships
- Selection Event 1: 20th World Aquatics Championships 2023, July 23-30, 2023, Fukuoka, Japan
- Selection Events 2: Speedo Canadian Swimming Championships, August 1-6, 2023 & 2023 World Aquatics Junior Championships, September 4-9
- Selection Event 3: 2023 Pan American Games, October 21-25, 2023, Santiago, Chile
Priorities
- The fastest Canadian in each Olympic event from the 2023 World Championships under the AQUA “A” standard for the 2024 World Championships will be selected. The FINA standards for 2024 have not yet been announced.
- The fastest eligible swimmers at the 2023 World Championships, 2023 Canadian Championships, and 2023 World Junior Championships, who are under the AQUA “A” standard, will be chosen, up to two swimmers per event (including those chosen in step 1)
- From all four selection meets listed above (2023 Worlds, 2023 Canadian Swimming Championships, 2023 World Junior Championships, 2023 Pan American Games), the four fastest eligible swimmers in the 100 and 200 freestyle, including those already chosen in previous events, will be selected, provided that the four swimmers’ times -1.5 seconds are faster than the Swimming Canada Relay Standards. For the purposes of this step, non-leadoff relay splits from the international championships can be included, using the individual split time +.5 seconds.
- If there are no swimmers selected at this point in the 100 meter stroke races, the fastest time in each event will be chosen to complete the medley relays. That presumes that the add-up of the four swimmers’ times -1.5 seconds clears Swimming Canada’s relay standards. As in step 3, non-leadoff relay splits from the international championships will be included in the ranking, +.5 seconds.
- If there are any spots still open, the fastest swimmer from the Pan American Games under the 2024 World Championships ‘A” standard can be added
- If there are still events where no World Aquatics “A” standards have been met, the fastest swimmer will be chosen, presuming they have hit the Swimming Canada secondary qualification standard. That standard hasn’t been revealed yet, but presume it will be slower than the AQUA ‘A’ standard but faster than the AQUA ‘B’ standard.
- And finally, where space remains, the Swimming Canada Selection Committee and High Performance Director has discretion to fill those slots, either in individual events or relays.
The procedures include the usual “full discretion” clauses, such as the ones that allowed Penny Oleksiak and Taylor Ruck on to the 2023 World Championships team without swimming at the qualifying meet.
Relay Qualification Standards:
With a 1.5 second grace for relay exchanges, these are the times that Canadian swimmers’ add-ups from the selection meets must hit for Canada to enter that relay at the 2024 World Championships.
Open Water Selection
The selection for the open water races at the World Championships are pretty straight forward. Swimming Canada will only select in the Olympic 10km race, with the entrants in those events having the option to swim the 5k and team event as well.
There is no more 25k race at the World Championships.
The top-placing finisher of each gender in the 10km event at the 2023 World Championships will get to race again at the 2024 World Championships.
Ipso Facto: only four swimmers are eligible for those spots: Emma Finlin and Abby Dunford for the women, and Eric Brown and Eric Hedline for the men.
Canada will then host the 2023 Canadian Open Water Festival on August 12, 2023 in Welland, Ontario. The top finisher of each gender at that event, who is not already on the team, will go to the World Championships.
