Far from the prevailing news of coronavirus infections that have marked the early days of the arrival of athletes at the Olympic Village, six Polish swimmers have now been controversially sent home from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games due to an administrative error of their own officials.
The application of relevant guidelines implies that Poland was forced to cut their original 23-strong Tokyo swimmers squad down to 17 to be allowed to compete by the world governing body Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA).
For no fault of theirs, those who must now head back home have been identified as Alicja Tchorz, Bartosz Piszczorowicz, Aleksandra Polanska, Mateusz Chowaniec, Dominika Kossakowska and Jan Holub. And, they were livid with understandable anger.
Their expected reaction was addressed by Pawel Slominski, President of the Polish Swimming Federation. He issued a strongly-worded statement and apology, as he fully empathised with the anger from the swimmers forced to bury their Olympic dreams after all they sacrificed to get there.
Slominski’s statement read: “I express great regret, sadness and bitterness about the situation related to the qualification of our swimmers for the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“Such a situation should not take place, and the reaction of the swimmers, their emotions, the attack on the Polish Swimming Federation is understandable to me and justified.”
According to the Polish Swimming Federation President, the error was due to the “desire to allow as many players and coaches as possible to take part in the Games” but it falls flat given the fact that even that desire ought to have been moderated by adhering to FINA rules as they applied for the Olympics.
The unimaginable pain of losing their place in the Polish team after training with dedication for lengthy periods was felt in the furious reaction of the athletes to learning that they had to be sent back home due to the oversight. For instance Tchorz, who competed at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympic Games, issued a furious statement on Facebook.
It read: “Imagine dedicating five years of your life and striving for another start at the most important sporting event … giving up your private life and work, sacrificing your family … your dedication results in a total flop.”
Over on Instagram, Chowaniec posted: “I’m deeply shocked by what happened … This is an absurd situation for me that should never have happened. In fact, I hope to wake up from this nightmare eventually.”
The fallout has seen a number of Polish swimmers react to the error by signing an open letter, demanding the resignation of the entire board of the country’s swimming federation.
The letter read in part: “The actions of the Association led to an unprecedented event in the history of Polish sport. In addition, Polish swimming – both in the eyes of the public and potential sponsors – has been exposed as a laughing stock. And it will have a glaring effect on all competitors who compete in the white and red colours on a daily basis.
“We appeal to the President and the entire board to resign immediately.”
