Updates: LEN has clarified the age requirements for the meet, and elaborate on what it’s purpose is.
European swimming is about to look a lot more like other European sports thanks to the rollout of a new European U23 Swimming Championship from August 10-13, 2023. The initial version of this meet will be held at the National Aquatic Centre at the Sport Ireland Campus.
In many other sports, Europe commonly holds multiple age championships rather than just a binary junior/open split. In soccer (association football), for example, UEFA hosts championships for Under-17, Under-19, and Under-21 age groups for men and Under-19 and Under-17 for women.
LEN itself splits the age groups up further in other sports as well – like water polo, where in 2023 they will host U17 and U15 championships.
To be eligible for this meet, athletes will have to be younger than 23 at the end of 2023. In other words, they must have been born in 2001-or-later.
“The event was introduced by LEN following discussions between the Technical Swimming Committee and head coaches of LEN Member Federations during the LEN Forum at the European Championships 2018,” a spokesperson for LEN said. “It is seen as an additional competitive opportunity for athletes who have competed in LEN events but (who are) not able to qualify/compete at the FINA World Championships due to qualifying standards or lack of places within their Federation team.”
The lack of this kind of intermediate championship historically is related to the fact that for most of swimming’s history, athletes have peaked by their 23rd birthday. A change in that trend, with more athletes breaking through later, gives some value to these championships – though we’ll have to see who actually arrives.
But LEN is not viewing it just as an age-related competition. They are viewing it as an elite competitive opportunity for a younger adult swimmer who might be on the cusp of making their country’s “A” team for the World Championships, but who were blocked out quality ahead of them. Remember that for LEN European Championships, countries can enter up to four swimmers per event, but at World Aquatics Championships, that limit is two per event.
Among the swimmers eligible for the meet are Daniel Wiffen (b. 2001) of the hosts Ireland, who is the newest European Record breaker. World Record holders David Popovici of Romania, Benedetta Pilato of Italy, and Thomas Ceccon of Italy are also eligible.
There seems to still be a lot of mystery about this meet. Besides the usually-responsive LEN not responding to email requests for more information, the high-level European coaches that SwimSwam has spoken with also don’t know much about the championship beyond the brief mention in a LEN press release.
This is the most visible new initiative in the first year of LEN’s new direction under Antonio da Silva, who replaced the now-suspended Paolo Barelli last year. The organization touted a “reshaped and transparent bidding process” for the 2023 age group events.
2022 LEN European Swimming Championships Calendar
- European Junior Championships – July 4-9, 2023 – Belgrade, Serbia
- European U23 Championships – August 10-13 – Dublin, Ireland
- European Short Course Swimming Championships – December 5-10 – Bucharest, Romania
The Sport Ireland National Aquatic Centre is one of the world’s largest indoor aquatic centers. It includes a 10-lane, 50-meter competition pool, a 25-meter diving and warmup pool, and seating for 2,500 spectators.
This is a great idea, especially for male late developers.
I believe I’ve seen this in Australia as well, yes? I think it’ll keep people longer in the sport and I love that idea. Europe doesn’t have a college sport tradition (or infrastructure) like the US. I went to EYOF (when it was still called EYOD) and European Juniors (a million years ago, before there were Junior Worlds) and as someone who probably would have benefitted from a bit more development and opportunities instead of an “either you make the senior A team or you can swim with the hobby group” mentality, I think this would have been great back then. I’m sure I wouldn’t have made it to the big leagues regardless, but I quit competitive swimming at 17… Read more »
No not in Australia.
I’m pretty sure they had like U21 heats at some trials or nationals meet they showed on Amazon. 🤔
Oh yeah. Sorry. Not a separate championships though. They did have an under 21 final for those who didn’t make the A final.
Feels similar to track and field, difference is you see a lot more U23 athletes at the very top of swimming than you do track and field who tend to peak later
More meets, just what swimming needs, NOT.
Personally I’m a big fan of this; The more opportunities to make teams, the more people we keep in this sport. I’ve long felt those transition years (18-21) are very empty in swimming – Only those truly special kids are capable of making a senior team straight out of the junior ranks, so we need to provide competitive opportunities for those who take a little more time. I’ve been involved in both swimming and athletics, but the drop-out rate post-junior eligibility is far higher in swimming and I think the relative lack of teams during the post-junior developmental years is a key reason (for example, European Athletics holds U18, U20 & U23 champs yearly, and most nations hold trials for… Read more »
Completely agree Dee. Swimmers have had there junior worlds and junior pan pacs etc cancelled due to covid ….. now some have aged up and have nowhere to go.
That’s a great point about that “lost generation.” The first one, at least, will provide immense value there.
U23 is really common in cycling also known as espoir
Yes I agree this intermediate competition gives very valuable exposure and experience to athletes on the cusp, but it also needs to be recognised by NSO’s that to keep filling lanes in this level of competition requires those athletes to be funded appropriately to facilitate their continued commitment and perseverance to the sport…..otherwise the difficult decision to earn a wage becomes to hard to dismiss.
The NAC is a good venue but what’s the point?!
Are they going to make the qualifying times slow in order to get a good attendance? Or some financial incentives for the bigger names to come.
Suspect it’ll work like U23 Athletics and will be more geared towards those who struggle to make senior teams. We’ll still get the odd star, but many won’t bother and that’s fine. It’s essentially part of a development programme and a positive step.