As expected, the decision of World Aquatics is not universally acclaimed.The FI has decided to reintegrate Russian and Belarusian athleteswho will now be able to compete under the same conditions as other nationalities. Criticism has come from Ukraine, but not only. Erkki Susi, president of the Estonian Swimming FederationHe too expressed his opposition.
« The common position of the Nordic swimming federations is clear: we do not support this decisionand objections on this matter are also brought to the attention of the European Swimming Federation, he explains in a press release. At the same time, World Aquatics' decisions are binding (...), so they automatically apply to the European and Estonian federations. »
« The Nordic federations emphasized that athletes should not be penalized; the common position of the Nordic countries is to allow their athletes to continue competing internationally. However, the Nordic swimming federations confirm that they have not no intention of organizing international swimming competitions in the coming years as long as the current situation and the decisions made have not changed " warns Erkki Susi.
This removes Denmark, Estonia, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Finland, Latvia, Norway, Lithuania, and Sweden from the equation. Several European Short Course Swimming Championships have recently been held in these countries, in Finland (2006) and Denmark (2013, 2017).
