Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

FINA’s Technical Open Water Swimming Committee approved several changes at its last meeting:

* The FINA World Junior Open Water Swimming Championships will have three different age groups: 14-15 years, 16-17 years, and 18-19 years
* the 14-15 year age group will compete in a 5 km race
* the 16-17 year age group will compete in a 7.5 km race
* the 18-19 year age group will compete in a 10 km race
* the Team Event will be a 5 km relay of 4 swimmers (2 males + 2 females) including one athlete of 19 years and one athlete 16 years or less. The 4 swimmers each individually swim 1.25 km and then touch their teammate at the transition zone
* Swimmers in the Team Event should wear the same colored swim cap
* There will be a 30-second time difference between teams during the Team Event, instead of the customary 1-minute difference
* The three-letter country code on the swimmers’ swim caps will be increased in size from 4 cm to 8 cm in order to increase visibility
* Two transponders must be worn by the swimmers throughout the race; one transponder must not be placed inside the swimsuit

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