European Open Water Tour: Swimmers from four countries were not allowed to participate – running, biking, triathlon, swimming

This week seems to be the week when the Corona riot reached new highs, after the Paris half marathon was canceled and the Jerusalem Marathon canceled yesterday. Cancellation is pursuing a cancellation, and it seemed that yesterday (Wednesday) the European Round and the Israeli Open Water Championships in Eilat on March 6-8 with 23 international teams will be in order. Last week, the swimming association told Schwang that a status assessment of the swimming association’s heads was held with representatives of the Ministry of Health, regarding the nature of the competition and which they intend to follow.

Jumping to the Israeli Open Water Swimming Championship | Photo: Courtesy of the Swimming Association

International team swimmers arrived in Israel on Thursday and swimmers from Spain, France, Austria and Germany were asked to return to their home – with regard to the Italian team, whose lives were not allowed in advance to Israel. “We are returning swimmers from four countries back home, even though they have arrived in Eilat. The swimmers from Spain, France, Austria and Germany will board a flight from Eilat to Ben Gurion Airport and fly to their countries across Europe,” says Lwang Jean Paul, chairman of the European Open Water Commission, “They are very disappointed, because for some, the competition in Eilat is intended to be a “test competition” for participating in the Olympic simulation competition that must take place in Tokyo. Swimmers from other European countries remain here. Regarding the Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee is waiting and has not decided yet and may make a decision in April. ”

The competition will take place after the teams have been reduced to 20 countries, which according to the Ministry of Health’s guidelines do not prevent them from participating. However, as a preventive safety measure and subject to the guidelines, it was decided to cancel the traditional opening ceremony. Also, the competition will be completely split between the women and men and so there will be only about 40 competitors at the same time in the water and in the competition area. We note that all steps are taken in full coordination with the Eilat Municipality and the Ministry of Tourism, and that any further changes in the guidelines will be a reassessment of the situation with the relevant parties.

Israel National Team in Open Water Swimming | Photo: Swimming Association

The European Round Competition also constitutes the Israeli Open Water Championship for this year, with the 10 km ointment also serving as the test competition for the Olympic criterion 10 km away. Tomorrow (Friday) the Israeli Open Championship will be held for 5 km, and on Saturday the ointment of the apostles and the first round will be held for 10 km.

“After lengthy discussions by the Swimming Association leaders and following the relevant Ministry of Health and other relevant ministries, it was decided on Thursday that the European Open Water Competition and the Israel Open Championships, scheduled to begin tomorrow, will indeed take place in Eilat, preventing the participation of four from being selected,” Swimming, “The teams that will not be able to take part in the competition are those who come from countries that should be isolated on arrival, ie France, Germany, Austria and Spain. We note that these teams were already in Israel at the time the instructions were issued, but were forced to leave and the Swimming Association assisted them in finding flights and apologized To the delegations on their agony, these join the bark The Italian, who recalled her participation in the competition canceled in advance, and selected Canada, Hungary and Switzerland – who decided to cancel the arrival proactively. ”

Remember, the competition in Eilat is the first in the high quality European round in open water, and the biggest in the round, and is used for the Israeli swimmers both the Israel Championship and the test competition that will decide which swimmers will be sent to the crucial criterion for the Olympic Games.