The FINA World Championships or World Aquatics Championships are the World Championships for aquatics sports: swimming, diving, high diving, open water swimming, synchronized swimming, and water polo. They are run by FINA, and all swimming events are contested in a long course (50-metre) pool.
The 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships were held July 12–27, 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. The championships featured competition in all 5 of FINA's disciplines: Swimming, Diving, Synchronised swimming, Water Polo, and Open Water Swimming.
The FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) or "Short Course Worlds" as they are sometimes known, is an international swimming competition. It is swum in a short course (25m) pool, and has been held in the years when FINA has not held its main World Championships.
The 2007 World Aquatics Championships or the XII FINA World Championships were held in Melbourne, Australia from 17 March to 1 April 2007. The competition took place at three locations in central Melbourne: the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, St Kilda Beach, and Rod Laver Arena in a temporary pool christened the Susie O'Neill Pool.
The 14th FINA World Championships were held on July 16–31, 2011 in Shanghai, China at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. The 2011 World Championships featured five aquatics disciplines: swimming, water polo, diving, open water, and synchronized swimming. At this championships, synchronized swimmer Natalia Ishchenko, of Russia, was the most decorated competitor winning all six gold medals of her events, at solo, duet and team routines. These championships served as qualifying stages for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
The FINA World Junior Swimming Championships is a swimming championship event organized by FINA for girls aged 14–17 and boys aged 15–18 on 31 December of the year of the competition. It is held biennially, and has been held since 2006.
The men's 5 km race at the 2009 World Championships occurred on Tuesday, 21 July at Ostia Beach in Rome, Italy. In total, 41 males from 24 countries competed in the race.
The 5th FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships were held May 3–8, 2008 in Seville, Spain. The races were held on a 2.5-kilometer loop-course in the Guadalquivir river in the city center.
The 2nd FINA Open Water Swimming World Championships were held September 23-28, 2002 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The championships featured 89 swimmers from 26 countries competing in 6 races:
The 3rd FINA Open Water Swimming World Championships were held November 26 – December 2, 2004 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The championships featured 90 swimmers from 26 countries competing in six races:
The 4th FINA Open Water Swimming World Championships were held August 29-September 3, 2006 in Naples, Italy.
The American team competed at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, China from July 16 to July 31. The United States topped the gold medal count in the competition with 17 golds and finished the competition with 32 total medals, behind China's 36. 16 of the 17 gold medals came from the swimming competition and one came from the open water swimming competition. Individually, Michael Phelps won the most overall medals in the competition with seven. Ryan Lochte won the most gold medals among the male competitors with five and finished the competition with six medals total.
The open water swimming portion of the 2011 World Aquatics Championships was held between July 19–23 in Shanghai, China at the Jinshan City Beach.
Allan Lopes Mamédio do Carmo is a Brazilian swimmer, who specialized in open water marathon. He is considered one of the fastest professional open water swimmers in the world, finishing near the top of FINA World Cup races for the 10 km marathon. He also won a bronze medal for his category at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Ana Marcela Jesus Soares da Cunha is a Brazilian swimmer, who specializes in the open water marathon. She is considered one of the best open water swimmers in the world, winning numerous meets for the 10 km marathon at the FINA World Cup series.
The Open water swimming portion of the 2013 World Aquatics Championships was held between July 20–27 in Barcelona, Spain, in Moll de la Fusta.
Open water swimming at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships was held between 25 July and 1 August 2015 in Kazan, Russia.
This article includes the world record progression for the 4×50 metres freestyle relay and it shows the chronological history of world record times in that competitive short course swimming event. The 4×50 metres freestyle relay is a relay event in which each of four swimmers on a team swims a 50-metre freestyle leg in sequence. The world records are recognized by and maintained by FINA, the international competitive swimming and aquatics federation that overseas the sport in international competition.
