Like many other sports federations, swimming banned athletes from Russia and Belarus after the full-scale offensive war against Ukraine began in February 2022, but a couple of years later the restrictions were eased somewhat.
At the World Championships in Doha in February 2024, swimmers deemed neutral were allowed to compete, and the same applied at the World Championships in Singapore last summer.
Now the restrictions have been lifted completely. Even the national anthems of the countries are allowed at international competitions organized by World Aquatics.
A prerequisite for competing is that swimmers have passed four consecutive doping controls carried out by the International Testing Agency (ITA), World Aquatics writes in a press release.
Swimmers will continue to undergo some form of background check. According to the federation, over 700 such checks of Russian and Belarusian swimmers have been carried out by World Aquatics' integrity unit in recent years.
The federation has previously relaxed the rules for juniors.
Corrected version: A previous version incorrectly stated that the Doha 2024 championship was short-lived.
