A has announced the return of the World Junior Championships in Open Water Swimming for September 1-4, 2022 in Beau Vallon, Seychelles.
Seychelles were scheduled to host the 2020 edition of the meet, but in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, that event never materialized.
Seychelles will now get a second shot at hosting the world’s top open water athletes aged 14-19. The meet will thread a very narrow window between the World Junior Championships, which end on August 28, and the Asian Games, which begin on September 10th, as different organizing bodies around the world try to thread meets in to the most-crowded international swimming calendar in history.
“It is my great pleasure to confirm Seychelles as the setting for the upcoming FINA World Junior Open Water Swimming Championships. We have witnessed outstanding performances at previous editions of this event as competing athletes have gone on to win medals at the FINA World Championships and Olympic Games, making this a stepping stone to future success in the sport,” FINA President Husain Al-Musallam said. “I have no doubt that with the support of the local organizing committee and the Seychelles Swimming Association, this will be a huge success and will represent a milestone for this major competition.”
Swimmers born between 2003 and 2008 will compete in the ocean bay of Beau Vallon on the northwest coast of the island Mahe in Seychelles.
The water in the pay has a depth of between 1.4 and 4 meters with expected surface temperature between 28 and 30 degrees Celsius (82-86 degrees Fahrenheit) during the race.
The four-day competition will consist of 3 individual events each for men and women, with the length getting longer as ages go up. The race will also include a mixed-gender relay with two men and two women.
- 5km (14-15 years)
- 7.5km (16-17 years)
- 10km (18-19 years)
- 4×1.25km mixed gender relay (2 men, 2 women)
The 2022 version will be the fourth edition of the meet since the inaugural event in 2012. Prior hosts have been Canada (2012), The Netherlands (2016), and Israel (2018).
The 2014 event, scheduled for Hungary, was also canceled.
The U.S. led the medalst able at the last edition with 2 gold, 2 silver, and 1 bronze medals. France was second with 2 gold, 1 silver, and 3 bronze medals.
Among the alumni of the meet is Hungarian Kristof Rasovsky, who went on to win the 2019 World Championship in the 5km distance and the Olympic silver medal in Tokyo in the 10km event.