Belarusian world record holder Ilya Shymanovich and Russian freestyler Ivan Girev are among a group of athletes that have been granted individual neutral status by World Aquatics, deeming them eligible for next month’s 2024 World Championships in Doha.
The World Aquatics Integrity Unit has released a list of athletes and support personnel approved as individual neutrals, with just eight swimmers on the list and only one of them Russian.
Ivan Girev, a Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medalist in the men’s 800 free relay and the 2017 world junior champion in the 200 freestyle, is the lone Russian swimmer to have been granted neutral status, though he will not compete at the 2024 World Championships.
World Aquatics told SwimSwam that of the eight approved athletes, four swimmers and one artistic swimmer have registered for the 2024 World Championships, and they all previously represented Belarus internationally.
The names of the athletes competing in Doha have yet to be released.
In addition to Shymanovich, two other members of the Belarusian Olympic team in Tokyo, Anastasiya Shkurdai and Alina Zmushka, have been granted neutral status.
Shymanovich currently holds the world record in the men’s 100 breaststroke in short course meters, and he won the 2021 SC world title in the event in Abu Dhabi.
The 29-year-old would be regarded by some as a short course specialist, though he did win silver in the 50 breast at the 2021 LC European Championships and is the sixth-fastest swimmer of all-time in the LC 100 breast (58.29).
Shkurdai, 21, was the 2019 European SC champion in the women’s 100 fly and won silver in the same event two years later in Kazan.
Zmushka, 27, is the Belarusian Record holder in the women’s 50 breast (30.43), 100 breast (1:06.44) and 200 breast (2:24.33) in long course and holds the records in the same three events in short course (29.49/1:04.07/2:19.25).
Shymanovich, Shkurdai, Zmushka and another approved swimmer, Anastasiya Kuliashova, have already competed as individual neutral athletes on the international stage, doing so at the World Cup stop in Budapest in October.
The approved list of swimmers also includes Belarusian male sprinters Grigori Pekarski and Ruslan Skamaroshka, and male backstroker Viktar Staselovich.
Approved Individual Neutral Athletes – Swimmers
- Ivan Girev (Russia)
- Anastasiya Kuliashova (Belarus)
- Grigori Pekarski (Belarus)
- Anastasiya Shkurdai (Belarus)
- Ilya Shymanovich (Belarus)
- Ruslan Skamaroshka (Belarus)
- Viktar Staselovich (Belarus)
- Alina Zmushka (Belarus)
Also approved was artistic swimmer Vasilina Khandoshka, who won bronze in the solo technical event at the European Championships in 2021 and will be competing in Doha.
Approved Individual Neutral Athletes – Artistic Swimmers
- Vasilina Khandoshka (Belarus)
The approved list released by World Aquatics also includes nine support personnel, seven from Belarus and two from Russia.
World Aquatics approved the participation of Russian and Belarusian natives as individual, neutral athletes in September 2023 under a strict set of criteria that included showing no support for the war in Ukraine and having no contract with the Russian or Belarusian military.
Russian and Belarusians were banned from competing in March 2022 due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine that continues to this day.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved Russian and Belarusian participation at the 2024 Olympics in Paris under a similar set of guidelines in December, though this group of athletes has not yet been confirmed for the Games.
The 2024 World Aquatics Championships will be held from February 2-18, 2024 in Doha, Qatar, with the pool swimming competition running during the second week (Feb. 11-18).
At least there’ll be decent underwater cameras in Doha!
Chikunova? 🙏🤞
NOOOOOO AT SHYMANOVICH idrc abt the others yesss for shkurdai
https://giphy.com/gifs/zck-kntr-american-idol-randy-xiMUwBRn5RDLhzwO80