Mundial de Natación · History

The World Aquatics Championships were first held in Belgrade, then the capital of Yugoslavia, from 31 August to 9 September 1973, with 686 athletes from 47 countries. They were organised by FINA, the international governing body for aquatic sports, which has been called World Aquatics since December 2022. The championships bring pool swimming, diving, artistic swimming and water polo together at a single venue. Open water swimming and high diving were added later.

The early years: from Belgrade to Madrid

For its first few decades the event had no fixed schedule and was held every two, three or four years. Belgrade was followed by Cali, Colombia, in 1975, West Berlin in 1978 and Guayaquil, Ecuador, in 1982. These were Cold War years, and the United States and the Eastern Bloc nations took a large share of the pool medals. Spain hosted for the first time in 1986, in Madrid. Five years later, at Perth in January 1991, open water swimming joined the programme. Rome staged the 1994 edition and Perth hosted again in January 1998.

The biennial era and the hosts of the 21st century

From Fukuoka 2001 onwards the championships took place every two years, always in odd-numbered years. Barcelona hosted in 2003, Montreal in 2005 and Melbourne in 2007. Rome returned in 2009 and Shanghai followed in 2011. Barcelona hosted again in 2013, then came Kazan in 2015, Budapest in 2017 and Gwangju, South Korea, in 2019. At Gwangju, Australia’s Mack Horton refused to share the 400m freestyle podium with China’s Sun Yang, who had served a doping suspension in 2014. FINA sent a warning letter to Horton and Swimming Australia, and a few days later Britain’s Duncan Scott made the same protest after the 200m freestyle.

Michael Phelps and the medal table

The most decorated athlete in the history of the championships is the American Michael Phelps. Between 2001 and 2011 he won 26 golds, 6 silvers and 1 bronze, 33 medals in all. Among nations, the United States leads the all-time medal table with 312 golds and 770 medals. The US also holds the record for golds at a single edition, 23 at West Berlin in 1978, a figure China matched at Doha in 2024. Its 49 medals in 2022 are the most won by any country at one championships. Spain has its own podium finishes too: at Kazan in 2015, Jessica Vall took bronze in the 200m breaststroke.

High diving and artistic swimming

High diving made its debut at Barcelona in 2013, with men jumping from 27-metre platforms and women from 20 metres. Colombia’s Orlando Duque won the first men’s competition and Cesilie Carlton of the United States the first women’s event. In 2017 synchronised swimming was renamed artistic swimming, the name it still carries on the championship programme.

The pandemic and the annual calendar

COVID-19 upended the schedule. Fukuoka had been chosen for the 2021 championships, and the event there had to be postponed twice. In February 2022 FINA announced a replacement championships in Budapest, held from 18 June to 3 July that year, and Fukuoka finally staged the event from 14 to 30 July 2023. For three straight years there was a championships every year, as Doha, Qatar, hosted from 2 to 18 February 2024. On 12 December 2022, between the Budapest and Fukuoka editions, FINA changed its name to World Aquatics. The biennial cycle returned with Singapore, host from 11 July to 3 August 2025, the 22nd edition of the championships.