2021 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships

In March 2021, British Swimming announced that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic combined with other factors, including no publicly revealed dates nor venue for the 2021 World Junior Championships, had changed how they were conducting their selection trials for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[3] By the end of the month, Australia had withdrawn its swimmers for the championships due to concerns about transmission of COVID-19 to its athletes.[4] The following month Canada pulled out of the competition as well, in part due to concerns about the health and safety of its swimmers and in part due to difficulties fairly running qualification events.[5] Two months later, in June, FINA postponed the championships to August 2022 in the pursuit of safer travel conditions and less COVID-19 related risks for participating athletes.[2] Frustration was vocalized by the United States following the postponement of the championships, and youth who would have competed at the championships had they been held in 2021 instead competed at the 2021 FINA Swimming World Cup.[6]

Various qualification systems exist internationally, one of which implemented by USA Swimming is the holding of a team trials competition from which swimmers are selected to compete at the 2021 World Junior Championships.[7]