This article originally appeared in the 2022 Spring edition of SwimSwam Magazine. Subscribe here.
The FINA World Championships are the World Championships for aquatics, a huge competition where athletes from all aquatic disciplines show their talent. The shape of today’s World Championships is very different from the event held almost 50 years ago.
The event was first held in 1973 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, with only 47 nations and four disciplines. Four disciplines, with two of them reserved for one gender. Water polo was for men only, and synchronized swimming, now artistic swimming, was only available for women. To see the women’s water polo tournament, we move to 1986, in Madrid. There, Australia won the gold and their first title in history; the Netherlands took the silver and USA the bronze medal.
The wait was longer to see a man in artistic swimming — it first happened in 2015, in Kazan, Russia. In the sixteenth edition of the event, for the first time the mixed pair (women’s-men’s) duets were included.
The eighteenth time the event took place, in Gwangju 2019, 192 nations participated in six disciplines: swimming, open water swimming, diving, high diving, water polo, and artistic swimming.
After the first attempt to unify all aquatic sports, the second edition of the FINA World Championships was hosted two years later in Cali, Colombia, in 1975.
From 1978 to 1998, the Championships were held every four years, in non-Olympic years. From 2001 until 2019, the Championships were held in odd years, every two years.
As you all already know, due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the scheduling of both the Olympic Games and the Championships between 2019 and 2025 became somewhat erratic, with World Championships not taking place in Japan in 2021 to accommodate the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics, and then delayed again to 2023 because of pandemic-related issues in Japan.
An extraordinary edition of the event was announced for 2022 in Budapest so as not to leave a four-year gap between World Championships. As a result, World Championships will be held in four consecutive years for the first time: 2022 in Hungary, 2023 in Japan (the original 2021 event, delayed twice), 2024 in Qatar (moved to 2024 from the original 2023 event, then moved again to the start of 2024 to accommodate the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics), and 2025 in Russia.
Considering only the Championships that have already taken place, nine editions were hosted by a European city. Three editions took place in Asia: 2001 (Japan), 2011 (China), and 2019 (South Korea), and three more editions took place in Australia.
The American continent has hosted this event three times, but not one of these was in the United States, despite the USA team winning the medal table 13 times.
Among the editions of the FINA World Championships, some have a special place in swimming history. Fukuoka 2001, for example, where the 18-year-old Ian Thorpe showed the world his incredible talent. Rome 2009, the edition everyone remembers as the “supersuit edition” with 43 world records beaten. Budapest 2017, where the Duna Arena was the real champion of the entire week of races.
| Year | Date | Edition | Location | Athletes | First Place | Second Place | Third Place |
| 1973 | August 31 – September 9 | 1 | Belgrade, Yugoslavia | 686 | United States | East Germany | Italy |
| 1975 | July 19–27 | 2 | Cali, Colombia | 682 | United States | East Germany | Hungary |
| 1978 | August 20–28 | 3 | West Berlin, West Germany | 828 | United States | Soviet Union | Canada |
| 1982 | July 29 – August 8 | 4 | Guayaquil, Ecuador | 848 | United States | East Germany | Soviet Union |
| 1986 | August 13–23 | 5 | Madrid, Spain | 1119 | East Germany | United States | Canada |
| 1991 | January 3–13 | 6 | Perth, Australia | 1142 | United States | China | Hungary |
| 1994 | September 1-11 | 7 | Rome, Italy | 1400 | China | United States | Russia |
| 1998 | January 8-17 | 8 | Perth, Australia | 1371 | United States | Russia | Australia |
| 2001 | July 16-29 | 9 | Fukuoka, Japan | 1498 | Australia | China | United States |
| 2003 | July 12-27 | 10 | Barcelona, Spain | 2015 | United States | Russia | Australia |
| 2005 | July 16-31 | 11 | Montreal, Canada | 1784 | United States | Australia | China |
| 2007 | March 18 – April 1 | 12 | Melbourne, Australia | 2158 | United States | Russia | Australia |
| 2009 | July 17 – August 2 | 13 | Rome, Italy | 2556 | United States | China | Russia |
| 2011 | July 16-31 | 14 | Shanghai, China | 2220 | United States | China | Russia |
| 2013 | July 19 – August 4 | 15 | Barcelona, Spain | 2293 | United States | China | Russia |
| 2015 | July 24 – August 9 | 16 | Kazan, Russia | 2400 | China | United States | Russia |
| 2017 | July 14–30 | 17 | Budapest, Hungary | 2360 | United States | China | Russia |
| 2019 | July 12-28 | 18 | Gwangju, South Korea | 2623 | China | United States | Russia |
For the championships held in Australia, were they set during January and March due to that being the warmer months of the year (especially for open water swimming)? I’ve been trying to figure out why the 1991 champs happened in January of that year rather than in 1990 like the schedule should have had them. Couldn’t tell if it was due to global issues at the time, the weather in the southern hemisphere, or something else and there is very little information about the bid process for that year.
Regarding your remark on Thorpe, but specifically to Fukuoka in 2001, and “showing his incredible talent”. While I don’t question at all how supremely he performed at THOSE Worlds, I AM surprised you completely looked past what Thorpe did in his 400 free at his Worlds in ’98 in Perth. He was behind after his last flip turn and came home very fast his last 50 to just barely win the race, and he was only 15. Although I do acknowledge that fellow Australian Stephen Holland won the mile at age 15 at the first Worlds in ’73, it’s been my understanding that when Thorpe won his 400 free in Perth, he was a slightly younger 15 yr old than… Read more »
Interesting that they have never been in the USA!
No US city want to bear the costswithout sufficient revenues to cover the costs.
Why has the US never held the World Championships?
Because they’re tight a$$es.
Because world aquatic championships doesn’t generate enough revenues to cover the costs.
I understand that the contracts FINA has with the host cities aren’t very flexible which left them in a hard place as to how to deal with the unprecedented circumstances of the last few years, but nethertheless it is absolutely ridiculously that they now insist on holding 4 world championships annually in a row. Particularly that stretch of Fukuoka in July 2023, Doha in January 2024, and then Olympics in Paris in July 2024 is just laughable.
Athletes and Federations simply are not going to prioritize every single one of these championships, and there is good reason to worry that this may result in permanent damage to the prestige of the Biannual aquatics world championship.
FINA seems to… Read more »
I hope everyone will excuse this slight diversion but it IS World Championships related.
I can confirm that those of us in AUS WILL be able to watch at least some of the action.
Nine network will be streaming on their 9Now streaming platform (free signup) and there will be at least limited amounts broadcast on 9Gem channel. One expects they will be utilising the host feed with maybe a studio panel but that is only my surmisal.
The extent of the streaming is at this point unknown but one expects it may be somewhat more extensive than what will be shown on 9Gem where only 1 hour of the first heat session will be shown (presumably) live or slightly… Read more »
Better than nothing I suppose, Are nine doing Commonwealth Games as well?
No, Seven has the rights and will both televise and stream via 7plus
Well they are doing the para Worlds full stream so you would think they would be doing the Worlds that follow?
Not the Para heats
Hopefully it’ll also be watchable on YouTube even with a VPN because that was so good for short course worlds last year but I guess I should watch watch on 9now because if no one watches they won’t buy the rights again.
We should know some more over the next 24-48 hours as regards how much will be shown and when on Gem.
Hopefully with 7plus streaming CG, we may also have the option of the host feeds ….. so we can be spared the general inanity of 7’s ‘talking heads’.
Just watch it for free (after pointing your VPN to Canada) on CBC.ca they always have excellent coverage.
Will keep that in mind if the 9Now stream proves inadequate
Four consecutive year of WC, really gives people in their primes the ability to inflate their WC medal count, especially if they are attended more lightly
The 2022, 2023 and 2025 were already scheduled.
FINA needs to cancel the 2024 WC and give Qatar the 2025 one instead of Russia.
Qatar is in Asia
Geography is HARD
true, but not sure why you’re making that point. if its about the article statement regarding Worlds held in Asia 3 times, you might want to just check his syntax. The statement is explicit to those Worlds that have taken place ALREADY around the world. I understand that statement as clearly not including in those counts cities awarded Worlds yet to be held…???
The article reads Qatar is in Africa