FINA Unveils 2014 Youth Olympic Games Qualifying Procedure

FINA has announced the qualifying procedures for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.

This, the second edition of the Youth Olympics, will hope to mirror the success seen in the first edition, which was the coming out party of swimmers like Chad le Clos, Andrii Govorov, Velimir Stjepanovic, Tang Yi, Daryna Zevina, and Tera van Bielen.

The selection criteria for the 2014 will be as follows (though remember that any given country can choose their swimmers however they like, within these guidelines).

A total of 400 swimmers will be selected: 200 men and 200 women. 280 of those spots (140 per) will go to “qualification” athletes, 8 (4 per) will go to the host country China, and 112 (56 per) will go to “Universality” Places.

This is where the ‘points,’ largely ignored, from the World Championships become important. The top 16 teams by total FINA points at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona will get up to 4 boys and 4 girls into the meet.

Teams outside of this top 16 will get up to four athletes maximum, 2 boys and 2 girls, meaning that they won’t be able to enter single-gender relays (but will be able to enter coed relays).

The top 16-finishing teams in the heats of the World Championships get to swim the 400 medley and free relays at the Youth Olympics.

For the mixed relays, there’s no restrictions, and every team with 2 boys and 2 girls can participate if they so choose.

The swimming portion of the Youth Olympics runs from August 17-22, 2014.

Ages

Swimmers born between January 1st, 1996 and December 31st, 1999 are eligible for the meet. That means athletes will range from 13 to 18 years old.

Qualification Standards

Universality

To receive a Universality spot, countries must have participated at the 2013 World Championships, World Junior Championships, or any other FINA approved competition.

These countries do not have any swimmers who meet the qualification standards, and they can enter 1 boy and 1 girl, with up to 2 events each. Athletes from this pool will be selected on the basis of the FINA Points Table.

If all 112 Universality are not filled, they go back to those swimmers with B standards.

Qualification Period

Entry forms shall be submitted to FINA by June 15th 2014, with the entries approved no later than June 25th for the teams with qualification standards.

Times swum between April 1st, 2013 and June 8th, 2014 can be considered.

Event Lineup

The event lineup will be the same as it was in 2010, with one small exception. As listed above, it will include all World Championship events aside from the 400 IM and the 1500 free, though a new addition will be 800 frees for both genders.

There will also be no 800 free relay, but each gender has a 400 free relay, a 400 medley relay, and there will also be a coed 400 free relay and 400 medley relay.

Teams Eligible for Relays

Teams Eligible to Send 8 Swimmers (4 Boys, 4 Girls)

This is actually a cool feature of this meet, as they reward teams that sent bigger squads to Worlds. Among the power countries that will be limited to only four entries (2 boys, 2 girls) at the 2014 Youth Olympics include Poland, Denmark, New Zealand, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Israel.