Reporting from Ben Dornan contributed to this report.
As part of its comprehensive review and update of global rules in aquatic sports, World Aquatics (formerly FINA) has dropped the 25km race from the World Championships program going forward.
World Aquatics previously had announced that the event would not be part of the program at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, though at the time the statement was specific to the 2023 event.
Low entry numbers and high operating costs were cited at the time as reasons for dropping the event from the 2023 championships.
This leaves 5 open water events on the World Championships going forward: men’s and women’s 5km races, men’s and women’s 10km races, and a mixed 4×1500 relay team event. There were previously 7 events.
The Olympic open water events, known as ‘marathon swimming,’ will remain the 10km races.
# of Entrants in Open Water Events at World Championships (2005 – 2022)
| WOMEN’S 25K | WOMEN’S 10K | WOMEN’S 5K | MEN’S 25K | MEN’S 10K | MEN’S 5K | |
| 2005 | 19 | 23 | 27 | 30 | 31 | 32 |
| 2007 | 13 | 42 | 28 | 20 | 53 | 39 |
| 2009 | 17 | 45 | 42 | 21 | 48 | 41 |
| 2011 | 21 | 56 | 42 | 29 | 67 | 53 |
| 2013 | 22 | 51 | 45 | 35 | 65 | 54 |
| 2015 | 21 | 55 | 38 | 32 | 70 | 49 |
| 2017 | 21 | 62 | 58 | 28 | 65 | 62 |
| 2019 | 20 | 64 | 54 | 24 | 74 | 61 |
| 2022 | 15 | 61 | 55 | 25 | 62 | 61 |
This decision will bring an end to Ana Marcela Cunha‘s reign as the 25k champion, which has lasted for 4 straight championships. She won gold in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022, and also won in 2011, making her a 5-time winner in this event. Cunha placed 5th in this event in 2013, the same year that she won 10k silver and 5k bronze.
All-time World Championships Medalist – Men’s 25k
| YEAR | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 Perth | Chad Hundeby – United States | Sergio Chariandini – Italy | David O’Brien – Australia |
| 1994 Rome | Greg Streppel – Canada | David Bates – Australia | Aleksey Akatyev – Russia |
| 1998 Perth | Aleksey Akatyev – Russia | David Meca – Spain | Gabriel Chaillou – Argentina |
| 2001 Fukuoka | Yuri Kudinov – Russia | Stéphane Gomez – France | Stéphane Lecat – France |
| 2003 Barcelona | Yuri Kudinov – Russia | David Meca – Spain | Petar Stoychev – Bulgaria |
| 2005 Montreal | David Meca – Spain | Brendan Capell – Australia | Petar Stoychev – Bulgaria |
| 2007 Melbourne | Yuri Kudinov – Russia | Marco Formentini – Italy | Mohamed Zanaty – Egypt |
| 2009 Rome | Valerio Cleri – Italy | Trent Grimsey – Australia | Vladimir Dyatchin – Russia |
| 2011 Shanghai | Petar Stoychev – Bulgaria | Vladimir Dyatchin – Russia | Csaba Gercsák – Hungary |
| 2013 Barcelona | Thomas Lurz – Germany | Brian Ryckeman – Belgium | Evgeny Drattsev – Russia |
| 2015 Kazan | Simone Ruffini – Italy | Alex Meyer – United States | Matteo Furlan – Italy |
| 2017 Budapest | Axel Reymond – France | Matteo Furlan – Italy | Evgeny Drattsev – Russia |
| 2019 Gwangju | Axel Reymond – France | Kirill Belyaev – Russia | Alessio Occhipinti – Italy |
| 2022 Budapest | Dario Verani – Italy | Axel Reymond – France | Péter Gálicz – Hungary |
All-time World Championships Medalist – Women’s 25k
| EVENT | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 Perth | Shelley Taylor-Smith – Australia | Martha Jahn – United States | Karen Burton – United States |
| 1994 Rome | Melissa Cunningham – Australia | Rita Kovács – Hungary | Shelley Taylor-Smith – Australia |
| 1998 Perth | Tobie Smith – United States | Peggy Büchse – Germany | Edith van Dijk – Netherlands |
| 2001 Fukuoka | Viola Valli – Italy | Edith van Dijk – Netherlands | Angela Maurer – Germany |
| 2003 Barcelona | Edith van Dijk – Netherlands | Britta Kamrau – Germany | Angela Maurer – Germany |
| 2005 Montreal | Edith van Dijk – Netherlands | Britta Kamrau – Germany | Laura la Piana – Italy |
| 2007 Melbourne | Britta Kamrau – Germany | Kalyn Keller – United States | Ksenia Popova – Russia |
| 2009 Rome | Angela Maurer – Germany | Anna Uvarova – Russia | Federica Vitale – Italy |
| 2011 Shanghai | Ana Marcela Cunha – Brazil | Angela Maurer – Germany |
Alice Franco – Italy |
| 2013 Barcelona | Martina Grimaldi – Italy | Angela Maurer – Germany | Eva Fabian – United States |
| 2015 Kazan | Ana Marcela Cunha – Brazil | Anna Olasz – Hungary | Angela Maurer – Germany |
| 2017 Budapest | Ana Marcela Cunha – Brazil | Sharon van Rouwendaal – Netherlands | Arianna Bridi – Italy |
| 2019 Gwangju | Ana Marcela Cunha – Brazil | Finnia Wunram – Germany | Lara Grangeon – France |
| 2022 Budapest | Ana Marcela Cunha – Brazil | Lea Boy – Germany | Sharon van Rouwendaal – Netherlands |
All-time World Championships Medal Table – 25k
| GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | |
| Italy | 5 | 3 | 6 |
| Brazil | 5 | 1 | |
| Russia | 4 | 3 | 5 |
| Germany | 3 | 7 | 3 |
| USA | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Australia | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Netherlands | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| France | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Spain | 1 | 2 | |
| Bulgaria | 1 | 2 | |
| Canada | 1 | ||
| Belgium | 1 | ||
| Argentina | 1 | ||
| Egypt | 1 | ||
| Hungary | 2 | 2 |
For the sake of the athletes, I would hope that some organization somewhere will keep competitions alive at the 25 km distance and still attract the world’s best swimmers at this distance.
Can you please tell me what are the Operating costs? The fat cats at World Aquatics spend more money on themselves with outrageous premium hotel 🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️ stays when you compare it to the entrants? This is one corrupt sports organization! The purse and prize money is a joke 😂 😂😂. This organization is run by a whole bunch of idiots who serve themselves versus they promoting the sport of swimming! They live in the old days of the idiot in all in amateur athletics in Avery Brundage! The biggest idiot of them all who reigned over the Olympic movement as it was his very own fiefdom!
25km is mickey mouse anyway. Its a slogfest with no finesse.
That being said, wish more events (7.5k or even 15k) could be added so that OW swimmers have more opportunities…
As someone who raced this and the training for it totally ruined the remainder of my career due to OTS and injury, pleased to see that others can be spared a similar fate 😌😌
Australia underperforms too….
The majority of Australian open water races are 1.2km, or below 2km, which is ideal for pool swimmers. Those that swim open water are usually into surf rescue Ironman stuff, or triathletes. So I wouldn’t say Australia underperforms in long form open water
I don’t know of too many competitive Openwater races in Aus at 2km or below unless you are talking about age group swims (which is appropriate for age groupers). W.A has a whole series of Openwater races from 10km down to 2.5km with solid participation in all events. Qld also getting much better with many World Series Swim events (competitive and recreational) with varying distances from 10km down to 1km but the prizemoney offered to attract “competitive” swimmers is generally focused toward the longer swims. Then of course you have each of the respective State’s “state Openwater champs” and these always offer 10km down to 2.5km for open male and female athletes. I see things on the up and up… Read more »
USA Swimming lags behind the rest of the world in Open Water because they don’t invest in it or support the Open Water swimmers. There are no high level USA Swimming Open Water meets beyond Open Water Nationals which is usually dominated by foreign swimmers. As the one meet where US Open Water swimmers have the opportunity to advance to qualify for the Olympics and where the national team gets chosen, Open Water Nationals should be closed to foreign athletes in the qualifying years. USA Swimming would rather bank on pool athletes qualifying for Open Water rather than invest in, promote and support the sport. Even the treatment of the Open Water swimmers vs pool swimmers for training trips, races,… Read more »
After 4K or 5K, does it really make a difference? Might as well add a 100K. Glad this event got cut.
There is a huge difference. Think Chloe McCardel versus Sharon van Rouwendaal. Totally different strengths.