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Aussie swim team out of world short course

Steve LarkinAAP
December's world short course swimming titles in Abu Dhabi won't feature a team from Australia.
Camera IconDecember's world short course swimming titles in Abu Dhabi won't feature a team from Australia. Credit: AAP

Australia's swim team will miss the world short course titles in December because of coronavirus travel complications.

Swimming Australia (SA), which has also cancelled next month's national short course championships, says sending a team to the worlds in Abu Dhabi isn't feasible.

SA chief executive Alex Baumann says individual Australian swimmers will be supported if they want to compete.

But with the worlds held from December 15-20, subsequent quarantine on return to Australia covers Christmas-New Year.

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"Sending a team to the event was not viable," Baumann said in a statement on Monday.

"For those athletes that still wish to attend and meet the selection criteria, we will provide a level of support to assist in travel and accommodation for the meet."

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Baumann said most elite swimmers were returning home after spending 10 weeks away for the Tokyo Olympics, when the swim team won an Australian record nine gold medals.

The national short course titles in Melbourne from September 23-26 were cancelled due to uncertainty around Australia's border restrictions.

"This is an unfortunate situation and again a decision we did not take lightly," said Baumann, who will soon step down from his role because of health reasons.

"With the borders being so unstable and regular lockdowns still occurring we feel this is the right decision."

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