The event gets underway on 13 July at 10:00 JST local time (01:00 GMT) at Marine Messe Hall A, a Fukuoka landmark venue that will be home to swimming and artistic swimming, and house the Main Press Centre, for the World Aquatics Championships – Fukuoka 2023.

The press conference will commence with a host of sports governance leaders, including World Aquatics President Husain Al-Musallam and World Aquatics Executive Director Brent Nowicki.

Yukiko Inui – the reigning World Aquatics Champion in the solo technical and free artistic swimming events – is among the featured athletes attending the press conference.  

Image Source: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Inui – who won Japan’s first-ever artistic swimming World Championship gold in a solo event – has had her eye on repeating last year’s performance from Budapest. The 32-year-old from Omihachiman has continued to impress in 2023 with wins in both solo events at last month’s World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup Super Final. 

"I will try my best to win again in Fukuoka as I was inspired by the Japanese duet swimmers who won the first gold medal in artistic swimming for Japan at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka in 2001."

Image Source: Gabriel Monnet/World Aquatics

The roster of world-class athletes at the press conference includes German World and Olympic champion Florian Wellbrock (swimming and open water swimming), World and Olympic champion springboard diver Yiwen Chen of China, and the up-and-coming teenage Japanese diver Rikuto Tamai, who won world silver in the 10m platform last year.

Image Source: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

Water polo will also figure prominently at the opening press conference, with Marco del Lungo of Italy and Dorottya Szilagyi of Hungary representing the men’s and women’s water polo tournaments, respectively. 

Official media transportation will be provided for the opening press conference.

Image Source: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

In addition to the 20th edition of the World Aquatics Championships that runs from 14-30 July, the event programme also features the World Aquatics General Congress 2023 on 25 July.

The Congress will take place at the Fukuoka International Congress Centre from 10 am JST local time. Accredited event media that signed up to attend the Congress as observers can pick up their tickets at the check-in booth before the event.

The World Aquatics Championships feature the sports of swimming, diving, water polo, artistic swimming, open water swimming and high diving.