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The championships had been due to be held in
Melbourne from Oct. 22-24, but the city is still in a hard
lockdown despite coronavirus infections falling to single and
low double digits in recent weeks.
Instead swimmers will compete at venues in Sydney, Melbourne,
Brisbane, Perth and Hobart in four sessions of 'finals' from
Nov. 27-29.
Each event will be raced as close to simultaneously as possible
and the results sent to a centralised platform, from where the
swimmers are ranked to determine their final position, although
they would not be awarded a national title.
"We don't feel it is fair to hold an Australian Championships
when not all athletes may be able to compete," Swimming
Australia's Chief Strategist Alex Baumann said in a statement.
"We understand many states are still restricted by border
closures which will prevent travel to a single event, but we
felt strongly about providing meaningful racing opportunities
for our athletes."
Baumann added an event in South Australia had not been organised
as swimmers based there have no restrictions on their travel and
could choose to compete in any of the other meetings.
If travel restrictions are imposed an event would be staged in
Adelaide, he said.
All of the meetings will be held in accordance with state
government and public health guidelines.
(Reporting by Greg Stutchbury in Wellington; Editing by Michael
Perry)
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