At the European Championships, each nation can field four swimmers per event – but only two are allowed to advance from trials to the semi-finals.
It affects swimmers in many of the races and on Friday Sweden had three among the first four in the 50 meter butterfly trials.
But the fourth place Sara Junevik had a worse time than the star Sarah Sjöström and Louise Hansson and was therefore not allowed to swim further.
Frölander says he suffered with Junevik:
— I really did. She was fourth and then you fight for a medal, but are not allowed to swim.
“Must drive at max” Lars Frölander. Archive image.
An even worse example was when Italy had four top swimmers in the women’s 100m breaststroke – but only the top two were allowed to swim on.
— It’s tough for the nations that have four really good ones who have to drive to the max in the morning (in the trials). Italy had a chance at a triple and I think a nation should be able to take it, says Frölander about the rule that was added at the end of his career.
It was introduced, among other things, to fill out shrinking starting fields.
The Olympic gold winner from Sydney 2000 is supported by national team captain Martina Aronsson.
— I think from a purely sporting point of view that at least three should be allowed to move on. It would be awesome if any nation managed to be first, second, third. Athletics have it that way, she says.
But there are also two sides to the coin:
— We smaller nations have benefited from this rule in the long run. The dominance of big nations like the USA, Australia and Italy would have been greater if they had been allowed to bring more swimmers. We were hit in the 50 meter butterfly, but that is a split question, says Aronsson.
Meeting tomorrow
At the WC and Olympics, the EC rule does not apply, where a maximum of two participants per nation and no restrictions on advancement apply.
However, there do not seem to be any plans to change the rule at Len, the European swimming federation.
— Not to my knowledge, but that is up to the technical committee and the board. I know the technical committee has a meeting with coaches and team officials tomorrow for an open discussion. It is possible to raise the issue then, says Gergely Csurka, media manager at Len.