A Singapore First | Host of the World Aquatics Championships

Singapore returns as the central point for elite aquatics athletes and championship events, with the city, most recently playing host to the final tour stop of the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in October, World Cups in five of the six aquatic sports, and the World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships in 2015. 

Over 2,500 athletes are expected to participate at these World Aquatics Championships, representing World Aquatics’ 210 national member federations.

This is the third consecutive time an Asian nation has hosted the World Aquatics Championships, after Fukuoka, Japan in 2023 and Doha, Qatar, in 2024.

Detailed Competition Schedule

Check out the detailed competition schedule for all the events of the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 here.

Highlights of the 24 Days of Competition Action Coming to Singapore

The 22nd edition of the World Aquatics Championships brings a newly expanded 24-day competition timeline, allowing each of the six aquatic sports additional time to shine on the global stage.

Swimming

Swimming will take centre stage for the final eight days of the World Aquatics Championships at the World Aquatics Championships Arena, which is currently being built on the grounds of the Singapore Sports Hub.

With all the swimming finals taking place from 19:30 to 22:00, this competition window plays well with swimming fans tuning in live around the globe. Forty-two medal events are up for grabs in swimming, finishing with eight medal-only events on the final night before the Closing Ceremony—a fitting end to the Championships.

Diving

Diving will dominate the revered OCBC Aquatic Centre within the Singapore Sports Hub for the final nine days of the Championships. With diving’s importance across the Asia-Pacific region – especially in the People’s Republic of China – all six of the individual medal events will start in a primetime slot. The Men’s and Women’s synchronised events for the 3m Springboard and 10m Platform will return with a revised format, which includes a Preliminary Round followed by a Top 8 Final.

Water Polo

The Men’s and Women’s Water Polo Tournaments kick off the 2025 World Aquatics Championships over the event’s first 14 days. The women’s opening Preliminary Round match will be the first competition of these Championships, with the Women’s Gold Medal Final set for 23 July. The men’s water polo tournament begins one day later, with the Men’s Gold Medal Final scheduled for 24 July.

With 16 teams in each tournament and 96 total matches to be played, plenty of water polo action awaits at the OCBC Aquatic Centre.

The men’s and women’s medal matches are all contested in the evening, catering to the ever-important water polo audience markets in Europe and the Americas.

Artistic Swimming

Grace and athleticism will be on display from 18 to 25 July as artistic swimming takes place in the World Aquatics Championships Arena.

The artistic swimming medal events get underway with the Men’s Solo Technical routine on 19 July, a day that will also decide the world titles in the Women’s Solo Technical. All men’s and mixed events will be finals-only medal events in Singapore, adding additional drama to the artistic swimming competition programme

Seven of the eleven artistic swimming medal events will be decided in the evening between 18:30 and 21:00 SGT, increasing the arena ambience and benefiting international viewing audiences.

The artistic swimming world title chase concludes with the Acrobatic Routine, followed by the Gala Exhibition on the evening of Friday, 25 July.

Open Water Swimming

Open water swimming opens the 75-medal barrage in the World Aquatics Championships, first with the Women’s 10km Individual on 15 July, with the Men’s 10km Individual taking place one day later at Palawan Beach on Sentosa Island.

A double header of the Women’s 5km and the Men’s 5km individual events follows on 18 July after a one-day break in the open water action in Singapore.

The innovative Men’s and Women’s 3km Knockout Sprints are slated for 19 July. The fan-and-racer-friendly competition format made its international debut this past September at the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming Junior Championships in Alghero, Italy. Following this successful foray, the 3km Knockout Sprints will feature at the World Aquatics Championships for the first time in Singapore.

Open water swimming ends with the Mixed 4x1500m Relay on 20 July, with Australia as the defending world champions. With a customary morning start of 8 a.m. in Singapore, Australians will see if their team can defend the country’s first-ever open water swimming World title midday on a Sunday, making for a viewing must.

High Diving

For the first time ever, the daredevils of aquatic sports will see their traditional three-day competition window expand to four days, running from 24-27 July at Palawan Green in nearby Sentosa Island, an expansive green turf situated along the beach that will be transformed to host the high diving competition.

The first two days comprise of two dives for each athlete in the Preliminary Round of the men’s and women’s competition. The Women’s Final takes place midday on Saturday, with the 14 top-performing female divers performing two more dives from the 20m tower to decide the outcome. The Men’s Final follows on midday Sunday, with the 14 male divers qualifying from the preliminaries to the finals before diving again from the 27m tower to decide the high diving medals.

The competition field in Singapore will be the largest ever, with 28 men and 19 women qualifying to compete at the World Aquatics Championships. With seaside views, a dedicated fan zone, and depth-defying dives on offer, high diving will again be the place to be part of the action at these Championships.

Review | Venues and Competition Dates for the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025

First announced during the one-year-to-go celebration for the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025, the venues and dates of the six aquatic sports are as follows: