Aquatics fans worldwide are set for a special year in 2024. Thrilling action is scheduled throughout the next 12 months in all aquatic sports, demonstrating the commitment of World Aquatics and its members to creating engaging and inclusive opportunities for the whole of the aquatics world, athletes and audiences alike, to be united by water.
Kicking off the year in style, the World Aquatics Championships will see 2,600 athletes from 190 nations come together in Doha, Qatar, from 2 to 18 February 2024.
The Qatari capital will host the flagship event for the first time, after successfully hosting multiple World Aquatics events over recent years, including the 12th World Aquatics World Swimming Championships (25m) 2014, nine editions of the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup, four World Aquatics Marathon Swim World Series events and a World Aquatics Diving World Series event in 2009. Fans and spectators will be able to enjoy the sight of athletes hoping to qualify for Paris 2024, showcase their talent, beat PBs, and excel on the international stage.
The anticipation from fans across the world for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the summer is palpable. From 26 July to 11 August, the world’s top athletes in Swimming, Diving, Water Polo, Artistic Swimming, and Open Water Swimming will unite in the French capital to battle it out for the coveted podium places. The public and participants alike will be able to witness an unforgettable celebration of sportsmanship and athleticism in a city full of sporting heritage, historic monuments, and famous landmarks.
Amongst the excitement for the World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024 and the Paris Olympics, the aquatics calendar for 2024 provides a wide range of action in a variety of aquatics sports across the globe.
The World Aquatics Diving World Cup is set to hold events in Montreal, Canada from 29 February to 3 March, as well as Berlin, Germany from 21 to 24 March, before the competition concludes with the Super Finals in the sport’s stronghold of Xi’an, China from the 19 to 21 April.
This upcoming year also sees beach water polo make its highly anticipated return to the Red Sea at the Soma Bay Marina, Egypt. Building on last year’s hugely successful event, the first-ever age group international beach water polo games will be played in Soma Bay in 2024, with the World Aquatics U18 Beach Water Polo Cup 2024 being held from 21 to 24 March. Following this, Soma Bay will also host the World Aquatics Beach Water Polo Cup 2024 from 22 to 26 May. The water polo calendar also includes U16 and U18 Championships for both men and women.
Prior to welcoming the world for the Olympic Games in the summer, Paris will welcome athletes and fans to the second event of the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup from 3 to 5 May.
The event will be the first international competition to be held at the new Olympic Aquatics Centre, the only new permanent sports venue being built for the Games. The first leg will be held in Beijing, China from 5 to 7 April, and the third leg in Markham, Canada from 31 May to 2 June. The Super Final of the series is set to be hosted in the aquatics hub of Budapest, Hungary from 5 to 7 July. The future stars of artistic swimming will also have the opportunity to showcase their skills at the Junior World Championships in Lima, Peru from 28 August to 1 September.
Fans will also be able to watch several open water swimming events in 2024, with a lineup that will see the world’s best open water swimmers compete in five iconic locations as part of the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup. Leg one will take place in the stunning setting of Soma Bay, Egypt from 23 – 24 March, leg two in Golfo Aranci, Italy from 26 – 26 May, leg three in Setubal, Portugal from 1 – 2 June, leg four in Hong Kong from 26 – 27 October and leg five in Eilat, Israel (TBC). Italy is set to play a key role in the open water swimming calendar for the year, hosting the OWS Junior World Championships in Alghero from 6 – 8 September, following their hosting of the second leg of the World Cup in Golfo Aranci.
Finally, the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup 2024 tour returns to the 25m pool for short course racing in Shanghai, China, Incheon, Korea, and Singapore, on three consecutive weekends in October. These meets precede the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) in Budapest, Hungary which will conclude the global aquatics competition year.