On Tuesday night, USA Swimming Director Lindsay Mintenko An email was sent to all athletes and coaches eligible to compete at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials regarding a “legal situation” that may affect the trials. The email did not name the athletes in question, but sources tell SwimSwam that the athletes mentioned are Olympians from Canada and Italy. Santo Condorelli He then qualified to compete at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Condorelli was stripped by USA Swimming of his eligibility to compete in the qualifying rounds and, if he had qualified, to represent the United States at the Paris Olympics, according to the email, but he is appealing USA Swimming's decision and the case is now before an arbitrator.
If Condorelli's application is approved, he will compete in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly. The deadline for entries was June 10 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
While the email doesn't name Condorelli, multiple sources tell SwimSwam the subject line is from Condorelli. See the email below.
Dear Athletes and Coaches,
We look forward to seeing you in Indianapolis in a few days and can't wait for it to be a great competition. We know your focus right now is the Olympic Trials, but we need to update you on a legal situation that may impact the Trials.
An athlete filed an arbitration request under Article 9 of the USOPC Bylaws this evening, challenging USA Swimming's 2024 selection procedures and their implementation. The athlete argues that based on the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, he should be eligible to represent the United States in international competition and participate in selection trials beginning July 30, 2024, exactly three years after he last competed for another country at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Both the Olympic Charter and World Aquatics rules require a three-year waiting period before an athlete can change nationality and become eligible to compete for another country in international competition.
Our selection procedures require that an athlete must be Olympic eligible to represent the United States at the time Olympic selection begins. Because the athlete is not eligible to represent the United States as of June 15, 2024, USA Swimming denied his request to participate in Olympic selection. The athlete appealed the decision and requested an emergency hearing under the USOPC's arbitration procedures. USA Swimming will continue to defend the drafting and implementation of our selection procedures.
The athlete has notified USA Swimming that if his challenge is successful, he will compete in the following events at the Olympic Trials: the men's 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly. Given the order of the events in Paris, if he qualifies for the team, he will not be able to compete in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay that takes place before July 30th, but he will be able to compete in any other relays that take place after July 30th.
The reason we are sharing this with you is to give you advance notice of this case and to let you know that you may receive formal notice from the arbitrator who will be making a decision on this case. As part of this process, the arbitrator will determine if there are any other athletes who may be affected by the decision in this case. This decision has not yet been made and no notice has yet been issued by the arbitrator, but we have sent this notice to all athletes competing at the Olympic Trials and their coaches. If an identified athlete is determined by the arbitrator to be an “affected athlete,” the athlete will receive formal notice and will have the option to participate in arbitration as a party. If an athlete is identified and notified as an affected athlete, they will be bound by the arbitrator's decision, whether they participate in the hearing or not. This essentially means that if the athlete who filed this complaint is deemed eligible to compete at the Trials, the “affected athlete” cannot later challenge that athlete's eligibility.
We want to provide you with the resources and information you need to support you during this time and be as transparent as possible. While we await official notification from the arbitrator to the affected athletes, please feel free to contact me directly ([email protected]). More details will be announced soon. In addition, the Team USA Athlete Ombuds will be available as an independent and confidential resource for athletes with questions about this process, including their rights and legal resources. Athlete Ombuds Kacie Wallace and her team can be contacted as follows: [email protected]And as always, our Mental Health Manager, Emily Crews[email protected]If you need additional support, we're here to help.
We will contact you as soon as we have more information. At this time, there is no action you can take until you hear from the arbitrator.
thank you,
Lindsay
In April 2023, it was revealed that Condorelli, an American citizen, intends to compete for a spot on the 2024 U.S. Olympic team. He competed in his last international competition for Italy, competing in the 50m freestyle heats for Italy on July 30, 2021. According to World Aquatics regulations, swimmers must wait three years since last representing their country before competing for a new country in an international competition. This means that under this rule, Condorelli would be eligible to swim for the U.S. team for the final seven days of the Paris Games, if he qualifies.
The US Olympic Trials' “Event Information Handbook” does not have any specific rules regarding swimmers who have changed nationality, but does state that “athletes who have represented another country must submit a World Aquatics-approved change of competitive nationality to Lindsay Mintenko before their entry will be accepted.” The only other eligibility requirements are to be a US citizen “eligible to represent the United States at the 2024 Olympic Games,” to be “currently registered as a member in good standing with USA Swimming,” and to achieve a qualifying time for the Trials during the qualification period, which Condorelli has achieved multiple times.
Condorelli is technically eligible to represent Team USA at the Olympics, but will not be available for the first three days.
However, as USA Swimming implies in its statement above, what appears to be the final official selection procedures document, dated November 2023, clearly states that swimmers must be eligible to “represent the United States in international competition at the time of the qualifying meet.”
In addition to swimming for Italy, Condorelli also competed for Canada at the 2016 Olympic Games. He also competed at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials and the 2014 Phillips 66 U.S. Championships, all with aspirations to represent the United States. He was also a member of the U.S. Junior National Swimming Team, where he broke the U.S. age group record in the 100m freestyle.
During his career, Condorelli won a silver medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay for Italy at the Tokyo Olympics and placed fourth in the 100m freestyle for Canada at the 2016 Olympics.