Singapore Will Host World Aquatics Championships In 2025
World Aquatics announced today (9 Feb) that Singapore will host the World Aquatics Championships in 2025.
This will make it the first Southeast Asian city to do so.
Image courtesy of Singapore Swimming Association
More than 2,500 athletes from 209 countries will participate in the premier international aquatics event.
The competition will take place in venues such as the Singapore Sports Hub. Dates for the event have yet to be confirmed.
Over 2,500 athletes expected to participate
On Thursday (9 Feb), the World Aquatics governing body announced in a press release that Singapore will host the World Aquatics Championships 2025.
The championships are a biennial event that features six aquatic sports. They are:
- Swimming
- Water polo
- Diving
- Artistic swimming
- Open water swimming
- High diving
Image courtesy of Singapore Swimming Association
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), World Aquatics was known as the International Swimming Federation (FINA) before it was renamed in January.
The dates for the event, which will be held in close cooperation with the Singapore Swimming Association and Sport Singapore, have yet to be defined.
Over 2,500 athletes representing the World Aquatics’ 209 national member federations are expected to participate, the press release states.
Venues where the competitions will take place include the Singapore Sports Hub, which houses the National Stadium, Singapore Indoor Stadium, and OCBC Aquatic Centre.
Source: Google Maps
The OCBC Aquatic Centre houses two 50m pools as well as a diving facility.
World Aquatics President says event is in ‘good hands’
President of World Aquatics, Husain Al-Musallam, said that they are happy to know that the hosting of the event is “in such good hands”.
He cited several reasons, namely Singapore’s “world-class facilities, proven experience of hosting events of the highest quality and a comprehensive approach to aquatic sports”.
Previously, Singapore hosted World Cups in five of the six aquatic sports. The country also hosted the 2015 World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships.
Image courtesy of Singapore Swimming Association
Singapore Swimming Association President Mark Chay said the local aquatic community is “excited about the opportunities that will come from bringing the world’s best aquatics athletes to Singapore”.
Keith Tan, Chief Executive of the Singapore Tourism Board, added that the selection “reinforces Singapore’s position as a leading sports and lifestyle destination in the region”.
Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong also expressed his excitement on Facebook.
He highlighted the fact that Singapore will be the first Southeast Asian country to host the World Aquatics Championships, calling it “a historic moment”.
Russia were original hosts for World Aquatic Championships 2025
CNA notes that the Russian city of Kazan was originally selected to host the 2025 championships. This was announced back in 2019.
However, World Aquatics decided to remove several aquatics events scheduled for Russia early last year.
This included the short-course swimming world championships, which Kazan was to host as well.
Furthermore, they also banned Russian athletes and officials from competing at the world championships as a way of condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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Featured image courtesy of Singapore Swimming Association.
