Olympic Qualifier Postponed, USA Remains Positive and Driven
by Alyssa Jacobs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Early this morning FINA released the following statement that officially postponed the Olympic Qualification event for a second time:
“Following consultations between the different bodies involved in the organisation of the “FINA Artistic Swimming Olympic Games Qualification Tournament 2021”, scheduled for 4-7 March, it has been decided to postpone the event to 1-4 May at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
The decision to postpone was taken for a number of reasons including assisting the on-going efforts in Japan to come out of the current situation as soon as possible.Further reasons were ensuring the fairest possible conditions for athletes to participate in this Olympic qualification event, as some necessary preparations may not have been possible given the latest COVID-19 situation in, and for, participating nations as well as some of the entry restrictions currently imposed in Japan.
The other FINA qualification events to be held in Japan this year – 2021 FINA Diving World Cup from 18-23 April and Marathon Swimming in Fukuoka from 29-30 May 2021 – remain unaffected.”
This news only fuels the fire for the USA senior national team that has been working tirelessly to train amidst adversity to return to the Olympic Games. After the event was postponed in 2020, Team USA shifted gears and committed to utilizing the extra time to reach their full potential. While they had their hearts and minds set on March 4-7, this postponement does not change the goal or the relentless spirit of our national team. Our young squad continues to grow each day and the team now has two additional months to refine routines.
The goal remains the same: return the team to the Olympic Games for the first time since 2008.
“Everything happens for a reason and we take this news as a positive. This is the core of our team’s philosophy. Any change, any uncertainty, any tough moment -- we embrace it. Our approach is the same as it has been since day one. This is good news for us, we now have more time to work, more time to improve and more time to grow. Nothing will stop us, not even a big change of plans.We understand that health is more important than sport right now. We will adapt our training program to optimize the health of our athletes with this change in our season," Head Coach Andrea Fuentes said.