‘Optimistic’ Dylan Carter Hoping for 2021 World Championships in April/May

Photo Courtesy: Andy Ringgold / Aringo Photos

Before the Olympics were postponed in late March, Dylan Carter had less than two days to decide what to do. The government of his native Trinidad & Tobago announced that it would be closing its borders to international flights at midnight on March 22 to stem the tide of coronavirus transmission, leaving Carter with the choice: Stay in California, where he trains with San Diego-based Team Elite, or try to go back home.

“We had a day or two to decide,” Carter told Swimming World this week. “And I elected to stay here because I didn’t know, and we were still training for the Olympics at the time.”

Carter, 24, doesn’t regret the decision, and he’s been in frequent contact with his family back home, and they are doing well. But it’s the kind of choice many athletes were forced to make as COVID-19 encroached on their plans for 2020 and beyond.

As Carter starts to shift his training view toward 2021, he’s come out in support of seeing the 2021 FINA World Championships moved up to April or May, before the Olympics.

Carter sees Worlds, to be held in Fukuoka, Japan, as a fitting dress rehearsal for the Games. It also would position the Olympics as the pinnacle of the season, rather than having Worlds piggy-back on it.

“In my mind’s eye, it seems like the perfect sort of warm up,” Carter said. “And I know that as this whole season has been extended so long, after the Olympics next year, I think a lot of athletes, including myself, will want a little bit of a break and the thought of going on another two months and waiting for the World Champs is a little bit not great.”

The 2021 World Championships are a logistical hot potato. FINA disseminated a survey to athletes (across aquatics disciplines) in early April, floating the possibility of four dates: April/May 2021, just after the Olympics, fall 2021 or 2022. Some federations, most notably Swimming Canada and the German Swim Federation, have advocated against two major championships in one year, for competitive, financial and logistical reasons. A World Championships in the fall of 2021 would impinge on the International Swimming League, which faces a race to get its second season started as normal in 2020.

Other sports are in similar predicaments. Last week, the IAAF moved the World Athletics Championships, scheduled for 2021, back a year to 2022.

Dylan Carter Photo Courtesy: Andy Ringgold

Carter’s view may stem from his perspective as a pro. The USC graduate qualified for the 2016 Olympics in the 100 freestyle, and he’s attained an Olympic A cut in the event for Tokyo. As a member of the L.A. Current in the ISL, he’s grown accustomed to a different calendar of racing than the traditional high school/college regimentation of spring and winter peaks. That and his sprinter’s mentality makes him less apt to choose a long hiatus from racing before Tokyo.

“I think as top-level athletes, we all love to race and we love to race at a high level,” Carter said. “So for me to think, oh wow I can’t race at a top level, I can’t race against the world’s best for another year and four months, I’m like, let’s bring that sooner. And the experience you get at that top level, it raises your game, too.”

There’s also the fatigue factor. The 2020 season has turned into one long, multi-year slog with a huge and indefinite sabbatical in the middle. Plenty of athletes, after the physical and emotional high of the Olympics, won’t have that extra couple of weeks or months in them to continue to Fukuoka.

An earlier Worlds would also serve as a light at the end of a long tunnel. Carter understands why FINA is taking its time with a decision given the global uncertainty of COVID-19. A later date for Worlds is the safer play as the pandemic evolves. But for athletes so used to focusing on dates well in the future, an earlier return to racing would be welcomed (with the obvious caveat of virus-related uncertainty).

Despite the unknowns, Dylan Carter is keeping himself in good spirits. Working with David Marsh at Team Elite, he was mentally prepared for the summer ahead. While he’s waiting out the pandemic like everyone else – trying to “stay safe and stay sane” – he’s hoping to use the compulsory break to refocus on the process.

“[The Olympics] had to have been postponed, so many people are out of training,” Carter said. “I was really feeling like I was ready for a good Olympics this year. But I just spin it in my head in a way that I think I’ll be even better next year. I’m optimistic in that way.”

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Superfan

4 years ago

Americans will not like that April/may timeline, nor anyone that has Trials anywhere near those months. For his situation where is probably preselected that might work but not for the big countries!