Canadian Selection Procedures Will Prioritize 2019 Pan Ams over WUGs

Swimming Canada has released its selection criteria for 2019’s major international meets. The World Championships and World Junior Championships have top priority, with Pan American Games outranking the World University Games.

The 2019 World Championships, World Junior Championships and Pan American Games will all select based off of Canada’s 2019 Swimming Trials, set to take place from April 3-7, 2019 at Toronto’s Pan Am Sport Centre, which hosted the last edition of the Pan American Games, in 2015. The World University Games team (essentially the national “C” team at the senior level) will also use the USPORTS Championships Finals from Feb. 21-23 as a selection event, along with Canadian Trials in April.

Swimmers who make 2019 Worlds or World Juniors won’t be eligible to swim 2019 Pan Ams or World University Games, and swimmers who make Pan Ams won’t be able to swim World University Games. The only meets that can double up are 2019 Worlds and World Juniors – swimmers who qualify for both are encouraged to compete in both if they are selected for both. Here’s a simplified look at the priorities for selection:

1. 2019 World Championships / 2019 World Junior Championships
2. 2019 Pan American Games
3. 2019 World University Games

For open water, there doesn’t appear to be a rule disallowing swimmers from swimming Worlds and a second meet. Swimmers cannot swim both Pan Ams and World University Games, though.

Here’s a very quick look at selection criteria for each event:

2019 World Championships

• Pool selection criteria
• Open Water selection criteria

Selection meet: 2019 Canadian Swimming Trials, April 3-7, 2019
Open water selection meet: 2019 Canadian Open Water Swimming Trials, April 27, 2019

Pool selection:

1. Top 2 in each individual event who make FINA A cut
2. Top 4 in 100/200 free who make FINA B cut
3. Discretionary picks to fill medley relays or other roster spots

Open water selection:

1. Top 2 men and women in 10K selected for 5K and 10K at Worlds
2. Next finishers in 10K will take 5K spots if the top swimmers decline

2019 World Junior Championships

• Pool selection criteria

Selection meet: 2019 Canadian Swimming Trials, April 3-7, 2019

Pool selection:

• Top 2 eligible swimmers per individual event, who hit the selection times
• Discretionary selection: top 4 eligible swimmers in 100/200 free
• Discretionary selection: to fill medley relays

2019 Pan American Games

• Pool selection criteria
• Open Water selection criteria

Selection meet: 2019 Canadian Swimming Trials, April 3-7, 2019
Open water selection meet: 2019 Canadian Open Water Swimming Trials, April 27, 2019

Pool selection:

1. All swimmers who don’t make Worlds or World Juniors but hit the Pan Ams A cut are ranked by World Ranking. The top 12 are nominated.
2. Discretionary selection to fill out relays.
3. Discretionary selection to fill out roster, up to 16 swimmers.

Open Water selection:

1. Top 1 male and female finisher.
2. Top 1 male and female finisher born between 1999 and 2005.

2019 World University Games

• Pool selection criteria
• Open Water selection criteria

Selection meet: USPORTS Championships, February 21-27, 2019 & Canadian Swimming Trials, April 3-7, 2019
Open water selection meet: 2019 Canadian Open Water Swimming Trials, April 27, 2019

Pool selection:

1. Times from both selection meets ranked together
2. Top 2 in each individual event who hit World University Games nomination standards
3. Top 4 in 100/200 free who hit World University Games relay nomination standards
4. In any event with no nominees hitting the nomination time, the top eligible swimmer in that event will be nominated if they rank 10th or higher in combined results of the two selection meets

Open Water selection:

1. Next 2 eligible men and women (not including swimmers nominated to Worlds or Pan Ams) are nominated, provided they finish within 90 seconds of the second-place finisher in the 10K.