| Status | Active |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sporting event |
| Date | Mid-year |
| First | 1986 |
| Frequency | Biennial |
| Country | Varying |
| Last | Singapore 2025 |
| Prev | Doha 2024 |
| Next | Budapest 2027 |
| Participants | 85 Federations[1] |
| Organised | World Aquatics |
| Website | https://www.worldaquatics.com/ |
The World Aquatics Masters Championships (formerly the FINA World Masters Championships) are an international multi-sport aquatics championships for competitors aged 25 years and older, in accordance with World Aquatics rules and regulations. It is the highest level of masters swimming in the world. The championships are usually held biennially, with competition in all five World Aquatics disciplines: swimming, diving, water polo, open water swimming, and artistic swimming.[2] Starting in 2015, the competition has been held jointly with the World Aquatics Championships.[3]
History
The event is organised by World Aquatics, the global governing body for aquatic sports. Originally called the FINA World Masters Championships, now the World Aquatics Masters Championships since Fukuoka 2023 after FINA rebranded to World Aquatics. Competition is for athletes aged 25 and older, with a minimum age of 30 in water polo.
The first edition of the championships under this formal masters program was held in 1986 in Tokyo, Japan. The championships draw a global field of international athletes, the 2025 edition in Singapore — the first time the event was held in Southeast Asia — hosted around 6,000 athletes from approximately 100 countries.[4]
Disciplines
The Championships typically include competition in:
Swimming – held in 50 m long course pools with age groups divided in five-year increments.
Open Water Swimming – usually contested over distances such as 3 km.
Diving – including springboard, platform, and synchronised events.
Artistic Swimming – solo, duet, mixed duet, and team routines.
Water Polo – with age-group tournaments for both men's and women's teams.
Age groups begin at 25–29 (or 30–34 in water polo) and progress in five-year increments (25–29, 30–34, 35–39, etc.) without an upper limit and discipline is separated into gender and age categories. This structure ensures fair competition within comparable age brackets. Relay teams use combined age totals, allowing teams to form squads across multiple age groups. Competitors represent both their registered club/team and compete under the flag of their national federation.
Editions
| Number | Year | Location | Dates | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-FINA World Masters Championships | ||||
| - | 1978 | Toronto, Canada | ||
| - | 1984 | Christchurch, New Zealand | ||
| FINA World Masters Championships | ||||
| 1 | 1986 | Tokyo, Japan | 12–16 July | |
| 2 | 1988 | Brisbane, Australia | 10–15 October | |
| 3 | 1990 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 6–13 August | |
| 4 | 1992 | Indianapolis, USA | 25 June–5 July | |
| 5 | 1994 | Montreal, Canada | 4–10 July | |
| 6 | 1996 | Sheffield, Great Britain | 23 June–3 July | |
| 7 | 1998 | Casablanca, Morocco | 19–30 June | |
| 8 | 2000 | Munich, Germany | 29 July–4 August | |
| 9 | 2002 | Christchurch, New Zealand | 21 March–3 April | |
| 10 | 2004 | Riccione, Italy | 1–13 June | |
| 11 | 2006 | Stanford, USA | 4–17 August | |
| 12 | 2008 | Perth, Australia | 18–25 April | |
| 13 | 2010 | Gothenburg-Borås, Sweden | 27 July–7 August | |
| 14 | 2012 | Riccione, Italy | 3–17 June | |
| 15 | 2014 | Montreal, Canada | 27 July–10 August | |
| Jointly with the World Aquatics Championships | ||||
| 16 | 2015 | Kazan, Russia | 5–16 August | |
| 17 | 2017 | Budapest, Hungary | 7–20 August | |
| 18 | 2019 | Gwangju, South Korea | 5–18 August | |
| 19 | 2023 | Fukuoka, Japan | 2–11 August | |
| 20 | 2024 | Doha, Qatar | 23 February–3 March | |
| 21 | 2025 | Singapore | 26 July–22 August | |
| 22 | 2027 | Budapest, Hungary | ||
| 23 | 2029 | Beijing, China | ||
Results
Results are archived on the Masters section on the World Aquatics website.
2019
Source:[5]
See also
References
- ^ "More than 100 medals won by British athletes at World Championships". www.swimming.org. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ^ Masters Worlds subpage of the FINA website; retrieved 2012-03-04.
- ^ "2015 World Masters Championships Date Set for Kazan, Russia". SwimSwam. 12 February 2014.
- ^ Torin Koos (19 July 2024). "Competition dates announced for the World Aquatics Masters Championships – Singapore 2025". World Athletics. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
- ^ "Swimrankings - FINA: XVIII World Masters Championships, Gwangju (KOR), 12 - 18 Aug 2019"