In the Olympic Games in Paris last summer, only one Russian swimmer participated.
Now, the International Swimming Federation World Aquatics (WA) has gone from caution to open gates.
As many as 30 Russian swimmers – under the name Neutral Athletes B – are competing in the pool swimming at the World Championship in Singapore, and in addition, five from Belarus (Neutral Athletes A).
"Unacceptable for me"
In total, in all swimming sports at the World Championship, 46 Russians are participating.
I had hoped for more integrity in World Aquatics. I feel for the Ukrainian swimmers who have to stand next to them here after what they have been through in recent years. It's a bit sad that WA doesn't stand by the stance they had a year ago, says Martina Aronsson.
Kliment Kolesnikov, double Olympic medalist in Tokyo, is making his first championship since Russia and Belarus were excluded after the start of the war of aggression against Ukraine in the winter of 2022.
He did not qualify for the Olympic Games and the short-course World Championship in Budapest in December – when 28 Russians were allowed to compete – and said in an interview with the news agency AFP:
What applies at the moment is unacceptable for me, namely that they are not allowed to represent their country but are neutral athletes.
The same thing still applies, but in previous interviews, he has said that his teammates put pressure on him to participate.
After having the second-fastest semifinal time in the 100-meter backstroke, the 25-year-old tells TT:
It's sad to sit in front of the TV and see my teammates win without me. I've been doing this since I was 16, it's my job.
Over 100 got clearance
The Russians and Belarusians who are allowed to compete are not allowed to support the war and must not have any connections to the police, military, or government agencies. Over 100 Russian athletes in swimming sports got clearance to qualify for the World Championship.
During the World Championship, they are not allowed to use their countries' flags on social media, and in interviews with journalists, they are forbidden, according to WA's rules, to talk about anything other than the competition itself.
During the short-course World Championship in Budapest in December, they were not allowed to give any interviews at all.
The fact that Russian and Belarusian athletes are participating at all – athletics still keeps the door closed for them – leads to criticism.
Even in Russia.
Disgracing their country
Oligarch Konstantin Malofejev believes that those who participate are disgracing their country, reported the Russian newspaper Sport-Express recently.
"Sports under a neutral flag is a conscious consent to humiliate your country," he wrote to the athletes.
Neutral Athletes B came second in the medal table in the short-course World Championship with six gold and four silver medals, in Singapore they are so far medal-less in swimming.
