The international swimming federation World Aquatics has unanimously decided on a number of criteria for athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports to participate in future events as individual neutral athletes. “The swimming federation recognizes the dedication, effort and talent of athletes regardless of their nationality,” said chairman Husain Al Musallam.
One of the criteria is the lack of active support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the omission of national flags and anthems. Individual Neutral Athletes may only participate in events where a time or result is determined by the performance of a single athlete. A maximum of one individual neutral athlete from Russia and one from Belarus may participate per event.
The swimming federation banned athletes from Russia and Belarus after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.