Every four years, we’re treated as a swimming fanbase to the highest level of competition that exists in all of sports, the Olympic Games. In the years in between, however, we look forward to seeing these top athletes compete at the World Championships — a competition that was first held back in 1973 in Belgrade.
With the most recent Olympics now in the rearview mirror, we look towards the upcoming 2025 Worlds, which will be held in Singapore. Today, we share with you all some fast facts about the World Aquatics Championships.
The Worlds were typically hosted biennially on odd years — until recently…
Starting in 1998, the Worlds were held every odd year — a change from the previous schedule that saw the events hosted with various gaps of two, three, four and five years from 1973 to 1994. Due to COVID, however, there’s been a change in the timing of events: For the first time ever, the Worlds will be hosted in four consecutive years (Budapest 2022, Fukuoka 2023, Doha 2024, and Singapore 2025).
This is due to a domino effect caused by the one-year delay of the Tokyo Olympic Games, and the subsequent one-year postponement of the World Championships in Fukuoka. After the 2025 Worlds in Singapore, World Aquatics will return to the usual odd-year cycle.
The winning-est nation at the Worlds has yet to host.
As of 2024, the United States has racked up the most medals and it’s not close. With 302 gold medals and 738 total medals (all sports), the U.S. leads second-place China (207 golds and 427 total) by a considerable margin.
Yet the U.S. has yet to host the competition in its history. In fact, the Worlds have been held in the Americas a total of three times: in 1975 (Cali, Colombia), 1978 (Guayaquil, Ecuador), and 2005 (Montreal, Canada) — and none of these occasions saw the U.S. play host to the competition.
The most dominant showings at the Worlds occurred in 1978, 2022, and 2024.
As of today, the U.S. and China have put up three of the most dominant performances at any given edition of the World Championships. In terms of gold medals across all sports, the U.S. took home 23 golds in 1978; China repeated this feat most recently in 2024. In terms of total medals, the U.S. took home 49 medals in 2022.
When it comes to pool swimming, the U.S. has had the most dominant showing. At both West Berlin 1978 and Melbourne 2007, the Americans racked up 20 gold medals (36 total). In terms of most total medals, an American stood on the podium a total of 45 times in Budapest 2022. The U.S. has also scored 38 total medals (the second-highest total ever) on two separate occasions — once in Budapest 2017, and again in Fukuoka 2023.
A handful of cities have hosted more than once.
Here’s the list…
- Perth, Australia: 1991 and 1998
- Fukuoka, Japan: 2001 and 2023
- Barcelona, Spain: 2003 and 2013
- Rome, Italy: 1994 and 2009
- Budapest, Hungary: 2017 and 2022 (with 2027 upcoming)
With regard to multiple-time host nations, Spain has played host a total of three times (including Madrid 1986), and Australia has also hosted three times (including Melbourne 2007).
The silver medal has been awarded the most times at the Worlds.
Taking into account the ties across all events contested at each edition of the Worlds, here’s the final tally: a total of 1,234 golds, 1,243 silvers, and 1,231 bronzes (for a grand total of 3,708 medals) have been awarded. Intuitively, that does make sense: a tie for the silver medal guarantees that no bronze medal is awarded, and the only way for a silver medal not to be awarded is if two athletes tie for first in a dead heat (which is extremely rare).
A total of six different disciplines are contested at the Worlds.
These six disciplines include: swimming, artistic swimming, diving, open water swimming, water polo, and high diving. Here’s a high-level overview of them all:
- Swimming: introduced in 1973, with the U.S. leading the medal count (254 gold, 609 total)
- Artistic Swimming: introduced in 1973, with Russia leading the medal count (60 gold, 66 total)
- Diving: introduced in 1973, with China leading the medal count (129 gold, 224 total)
- Open Water: introduced in 1991, with Germany leading the medal count (19 gold, 50 total)
- Water Polo: introduced in 1973, with the U.S. leading with 8 golds & Hungary with 18 total medals
- High Diving: introduced in 2013, with Australia leading with 4 golds & the U.S. with 6 total medals
What About Short Course Worlds?
The Short Course World Championships are typically held biennially, alternating years with LC Worlds. The first such competition was held in 1993 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Unlike the World Aquatics Championships, swimming is the only contested discipline.
As of today, the U.S. leads with 154 gold medals and 381 total medals, with Australia in second place (91 gold, 271 total).
I’m including here a couple more fast facts, just for fun…
- Most Participating Nations: Doha 2024 (199 countries)
- Most Participating Athletes: Gwangju 2019 (2,623 athletes)
- Most Events Contested: Gwangju 2019 (76 events)
- First Mixed Event Contested: Perth 1998 (mixed 5 km & 25 km open-water relays)
And finally, here’s a recap on the most decorated athletes to ever compete at Worlds.
- Michael Phelps (swimming): 33 total medals, 26 gold
- Ryan Lochte (swimming): 27 total medals, 18 gold
- Katie Ledecky (swimming): 26 total medals, 21 gold
- Sarah Sjostrom (swimming): 25 total medals, 14 gold
- Svetlana Romashina (artistic swimming): 21 total medals, 21 gold
- Natalia Ishchenko (artistic swimming): 21 total medals, 19 gold
- Li Shixin (diving): 4 total medals, 2 gold
- Thomas Lurz (open water): 5 total medals, 4 gold
- Rachel Fattal, Maddie Musselman & Maggie Steffens (water polo): 5 total medals, 5 gold (a 3-way tie!)
- Gary Hunt (high diving): 5 total medals, 2 gold
