Finland recently released its official roster for the upcoming 2022 World Championships, which begins on June 18 in Budapest. The Finnish roster consists of three swimmers: Mimosa Jallow, Veera Kivirinta, and Matti Mattsson.
Both Kivirinta and Mattsson made their World Championships debuts back in 2013 in Barcelona. Kivirinta swam the 50 breaststroke and placed 22nd overall with a 31.66, while Mattsson placed third in the 200 breaststroke with a 2:08.95.
Mattsson swam again at the 2015, 2017, and 2019 World Championships, along with the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Olympics. His only other medal at any of those meets came at Tokyo 2020 when he collected another bronze, hitting a 2:07.13.
Kivirinta raced back in 2013 and returned to the Finnish national team in 2015, tying for 26th in the 100 (31.65). She also raced in 2017 in Budapest, qualifying for semi-finals with a 30.98 for 14th. In 2019 Ida Hulkko and Jenna Laukkanen took over for Finland in the 50 breaststroke at World Championships.
The third member of Finland’s 2022 squad is Mimosa Jallow who will race the 50 backstroke this summer. In 2019 Jallow swam the 50 free, 50 back, 100 back, and 100 fly, her highest placement coming in the 50 back (14th, 28.10). Jallow’s first-ever World Championships meet was in 2015 when she raced the 50 and 100 backstrokes, disqualifying in the former and placing 20th in the latter (1:01.20).
Both Mattsson and Jallow hold the national record in the event they will swim. Mattsson’s 200 breast record is the 2:07.13 from Tokyo and Jallow’s NR is the 27.42 she swam in 2018 at the European Championships.
Kivirinta’s best time in the 50 breaststroke is a 30.72 from May 2021, which is a bit slower than Ida Hulkko‘s 30.19 from that same month.
In the roster announcement, Finland also mentioned that Ari-Pekka Liukkonen and Fanny Teijonsalo were both nominated to the team originally. They both, however, have opted out of the meet due to illness. Neither of the swimmers, who each train under Marko Malvela, have been able to train for several weeks.
Dang, I though ari-pekka could have finaled