Get your news fix on happenings outside the pool with the latest ‘Beyond the Lane Lines.’ With each edition, we collect personal stories, little known facts, and general items of interest from around the world. Read on and learn something new this week.
#1 Wasick Nominated For Poland’s Athlete of the Year
The woman who ended season 2 of the International Swimming League (ISL) as the fastest 50m freestyler across the 10 teams has now been nominated for her nation’s Athlete of the Year award.
28-year-old Wasick wreaked havoc as a member of the NY Breakers this ISL season, culminating in a monster 50m free time of 23.30 to set a new Polish record and dominate the ISL’s standings in the event.
Wasick is among the 15 total athletes from throughout Poland nominated for the award, which is calculated based on public voting. Additional nominees include cyclist Katarzyna Niewiadoma, MMA fighter Jan Błachowicz and volleyball player Wilfredo Leon.
#2 German Swimming Appoints Youth Director
The German Swimming Association (DSV) has revealed its new chairman of youth swimming, having appointed Uwe Hermann. The man will succeed departing Kai Morgenroth, who has been at the helm for 25 years.
The DSV’s youth division is the organization responsible for implementing youth camps and supporting programs supporting string bonds through swimming. 41-year-old Hermann is moving to this new role from his post as head coach of TV Wetzlar.
#3 Jacquie Marshall Joins British Para Swimming
We reported in October how British Para Swimming head Craig Nicholson would be taking on his new role as head of World Para Swimming. We now know who will be replacing him in Great Britain, as Jacquie Marshall has been named as his replacement.
Marshall is leaving her post as Director of Swimming at Northampton Swimming Club, home to junior swimming ace Edward Mildred.
Marshall has been part of the GB setup for 16 years, consistently named as a coach on British teams traveling to European and World Para-Swimming Championships, as well as the EYOF and European Junior Championships. She was named British Para-Swimming Coach of the Year in both 2018 and 2019.
Of her new role, Marshall said, “I am extremely pleased and excited to be taking on this role and look forward to joining British Swimming and being part of the British Para-Swimming team. I would like to say that leaving a great Club like NSC was not an easy decision to make.
“However, this is a very exciting new challenge and one I am very much looking forward to, especially working with the personnel who support the athletes, as well as the athletes themselves, who, as a coach will always be my main priority in helping support their development and learning whilst on the pathway to Paralympic success. I am also looking forward to working with the Home Nations to create a seamless pathway for all athletes, so that success becomes inevitable.”
#4 Swedish Coronavirus Restrictions Tightened
According to the new Swedish national council’s mandate which took effect on Monday, December 14th, children born in 2005 or later may participate in individual matches and competitions. However, the Swedish Swimming Federation boiled this down to mean that cups or tournaments are not individual matches or competitions and should thus also be avoided for children born in 2005 or later.
The Swedish Public Health Agency does not differentiate between team sports or individual sports, nor does it make a difference between contact sports and other sports.
Additionally, according to the new national council’s mandate, people born in 2004 and earlier can partake in indoor exercise as long as extra care is enacted to control the spread of infection. “It thus becomes even more important to keep your distance from each other, divide into smaller groups, avoid steps with close contact and otherwise follow the general advice that is directed at individuals when you are indoors.”
#5 Olympic Funding for Finnish Swimming Increased
Earlier this month the Finnish Olympic Committee’s Top Sports Unit published its summer sports support decisions for 2021. Per the report, swimming and diving have been allotted 205,000 Euros (USD 249,000) for next year, with 15,000 Euros (USD 18,000) dedicated to diving.
The amount represents one of the largest among individual sports and Executive Director of Finnish Swimming Sanna Airaksinen said of the contribution, “We are very satisfied with the support we have received and we have been well listened to in allocating the support.
“It shows that the Olympic Committee’s Top Sports Unit is confident in what we do, and this obliges us to further develop our activities and what we do in top sports.”
Support for athletes includes Olympic individual top-of-the-line support, athlete health insurance, and support for the Tokyo Olympic Project, which is targeted at camp and coaching costs for the aforementioned support athletes.
Coaching support includes an international coaching project for top coaching, Olympic coach support, and youth Olympic coach support.