Russian Swimmers Broke World Aquatics Rules At Bosnia & Herzegovina Meet, Source Says

In late March we reported how Russian swimmers would be eligible to compete under their national flag at a competition in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with World Aquatics reportedly saying in a statement that the event was not “organized” by them.

However, a source close to the situation has informed SwimSwam that the meet, called “Swim Wars” held in the city of Banja Luka on April 27-28, required any Russian participation to abide by World Aquatics’ restrictions since Bosnia and Herzegovina is a World Aquatics member.

An email sent from World Aquatics Executive Director Brent Nowicki to the Bosnian federation and seen by SwimSwam confirmed that the global governing body informed the Swimming Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina of the restrictions they would need to follow with Russians competing.

Those restrictions include only wearing plain white uniforms (no Russian flags or colors), no participation in press conferences, and no raising or display of the Russian flag.

The source told SwimSwam that Russian swimmers competed with Russian flags on their caps, wore national uniforms pre-race, attended medal ceremonies and press conferences with them on, and that the Russian flag was raised in and outside of the competition venue.

Images from social media confirm as much, clearly showing Russian swimmers at a press conference, a medal ceremony and prior to racing with the Russian flag on display (scroll to the right on the second post to see the Russian cap worn immediately prior to a race).

Some of Russia’s best swimmers were in attendance, including world record holders Evgeniia Chikunova and Kliment Kolesnikov.

The source told SwimSwam that half of the federation supported breaking the rules. The meet was also reportedly opened by Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik, a pro-Russian who has been blacklisted by the U.S. treasury and is also currently sanctioned by the British government for undermining the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Dayton Peace Agreement.

Russian and Belarusian swimmers have been under sanction from World Aquatics dating back to March 2022 due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In September 2023, World Aquatics approved Russian and Belarusian participation as individual, neutral athletes under a strict set of criteria, which included some of the violations Russian swimmers committed in Banja Luka (see full criteria here).

When asked about the situation and whether or not further sanctions would be imposed, World Aquatics “confirmed receipt” of the message from SwimSwam but declined to comment further. A follow-up to confirm that Russian swimmers broke the rules has not received a response as of publishing.