The International School Sport Federation (ISF) will be hosting the 2017 World Schools Championships in Budapest, Hungary kicking off in April and recently announced that 16 countries will be competing. The federation gathers more than 90 National School Sport Organizations from all around the world and is recognized by the International Olympic Committee.
The mission of ISF is to promote youth in sports and give them empowerment, social inclusion and a healthy lifestyle. Athletes age 13 to 18 are invited to compete in the World Schools Championship based on a qualifying system.
This year marks the 12th ISF Swimming World Schools Championship and it will be located in Budapest for the first time and organized by Hungary for the second time. The competition marks the first event of the year in Budapest followed by the Arena Aeuropean Junior Swimming Championships (July 6 -10) and then the 2017 FINA World Championship (July 14 – 30).
QUALIFYING SYSTEM
There are two different ways that swimmers can qualify for the ISF World Schools Championship – either through School Teams or Selected Teams. To qualify through the school team, each national school has a regional meet and then a national school championship meet. The winning team of the national championship within the country will have access to compete in the World Schools Championship.
The Selected Teams come from various schools and are selected from the national swimming federation. The team is made up of six swimmers and the only requirement is that the swimmers are in school.
COUNTRIES COMPETING IN THE ISF WORLD SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIP
The event will gather 300 young athletes from 16 different countries. Take a look at the full list of countries:
| COUNTRIES |
| TAIWAN |
| UNITED ARAB EMIRATES |
| SLOVAKIA |
| LUXEMBOURG |
| GERMANY |
| BELGIUM |
| CROATIA |
| HUNGARY |
| CHINA |
| FRANCE |
| TURKEY |
| MOROCCO |
| ISRAEL |
| PORTUGAL |
| INDIA |
| BRAZIL |
ORDER OF EVENTS
Day 1 – April 20
- Arrival of Delegations
Day 2 – April 21
- Opening Ceremony
Day 3 – April 22
School Teams – Prelims (AM) and Finals (PM)
- 100m Freestyle
- 50m Backstroke
- 100m Backstroke
- 50m Butterfly
- 6x50m Freestyle Relay
Selected Teams – Prelims (AM) and Finals (PM)
- 100m Backstroke
- 200m IM
- 50m Butterfly
- 100m Breaststroke
- 400m Freestyle Relay
Day 4 – April 23
School Teams – Prelims (AM) and Finals (PM)
- 100m Butterfly
- 50m Backstroke
- 200m Freestyle
- 50m Freestyle
- 100m Breastroke
- 200m Medley Relay
Selected Teams – Prelims (AM) and Finals (PM)
- 100m Freestyle
- 100m Butterfly
- 50m Backstroke
- 50m Breaststroke
- 50m Freestyle
- 400 Medley Relay
Day 5 – April 24
- Nations’ Relay
- Closing Ceremony
All events will be streamed live on the ISF World Schools Championship Swimming Facebook page.