Israel-Hamas War Disrupts Sporting World as USA Swimming Reveals Saddening Update for Open Water World Cup

The swimming world has been buzzing with excitement for the past few weeks. New records are being made and broken in the ongoing global event hosted by Europe. Amid the anticipation of the championship, USA Swimming and other international swimming federations are evaluating their participation options for the upcoming Open Water World Cup, which will be hosted by Eilat, Israel.

However, the nations are also analyzing everything more closely due to Israel’s war with Hamas. The Open Water World Cup had its own significance because the federations were looking to make the most of this event so as to select their teams for the 2024 World Championships.

The importance this swimming competition holds

As per the reports from Swim Swam, the federations had intended to utilize this leg of the World Aquatics Open Water World Cup series for the selection of their open water teams competing in the 2024 World Championships. The decision came after the 2024 World Championships’ unconventional timing in February, which pushed the inability of the countries to host their normal selection meets. As per the reports, USA Swimming is having a discussion about whether or not to send its team to Eilat for the competition.

While these discussions were confirmed by a spokesperson, no final decision has been reached. In a statement, the spokesperson said, “We will not be releasing any statement until we have thoroughly vetted all options and made the right decision for our athletes and coaches. This is an extremely high priority for us.” The swimming world has eyes set on the World Aquatics call as they are yet to react to the organizing of the event, while USA Swimming also has contingency plans if the Eilat event that is scheduled to take place on December 1?2 is pushed further or canceled.

What happens if the event is canceled?

If the competition is called out, then in that situation, USA Swimming will make efforts (although not obligatory) to find a substitute race. If the replacement meet is not arranged, then the swimmer with the fastest long-course 1500-meter freestyle time in the pool between January 1, 2022, and December 2, 2023, among swimmers on the Open Water National Team, will be selected.

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In the women’s category, the open water slots have already been designated to Katie Grimes (3rd place) and Mariah Denigan (8th place) based on their top 8 rankings at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships; however, the acceptance of the slots lies with the swimmers. As no other stops in the series are scheduled before December 1-2, any substitute event would probably entail an international, national championship or an impromptu event organized by nations facing a similar predicament, unless World Aquatics decides to reschedule the race.

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