Olympic 10K Marathon Swim Qualifications Announced
FINA officially announced its qualification system for the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim to be held at the 2012 London Olympics.The road to London – as it was in 2008 (read here) will not be easy. In 2008, the race was fierce among the women and men – and nothing less is expected in 2012.
The path to being one of the 25 men and 25 women vying for Olympic gold in Hyde Park in London is as follows:
The 10 best ranked (fastest) men and 10 best ranked women at the 2011 FINA World Championships in Shanghai, China will automatically qualify for the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim (“obtain a quota place” in Olympic parlance).
The 9 best ranked men and 9 best ranked women at the FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier 2012 will similarly obtain a quota place. This qualifier will be limited to those national federations that have not filled their maximum quota of two swimmers through the 2011 World Championships. These countries may send a maximum of two athletes to the qualifier, but can only qualify a maximum of one athlete per gender.
The 5 best ranked men and 5 best ranked women at the FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier 2012, who are not yet qualified, from each of the five continents (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania) will also obtain a quota place.
Should a national federation have previously qualified one or two swimmers, the quota place will be allocated to the next best ranked athlete, not yet qualified, in the ranking of the FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier 2012 event to ensure that each of these competitions yields a competitor.
As in other Olympic disciplines, the host nation will obtain a quote place for one male and one female swimmer if they are not previously qualified.
If there are any unused quota places based on these two competitions, then the unused quota places will be reallocated to the next best ranked athlete from the 2012 FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier 2012 who is not yet qualified.
While the dates and venue for the 2011 FINA World Championships are set for Shanghai in July 2011, the dates and location of the FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier 2012 have not yet been decided yet, but it will take place sometime in May or June 2012.
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Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.
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