The opening event press conference will begin next Monday, 9 December, at 12:00 CET local time (11:00 GMT) at the Akvarium Klub in downtown Budapest (Address: Budapest, Erzsébet tér 12, 1051 Hungary) as a lead-in to the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) that will take place from 10-15 December at the revered Duna Arena in the Hungarian capital.

Swimmers from around 200 nations will compete in 45 events over the six days of action. The World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) features an impressive USD 2.025 million prize purse and a USD 25,000 bonus for any World Record set at the Championships.

Hungary’s longstanding success in swimming is matched by Budapest’s rich history of hosting top-level events. This includes the 2017 and 2022 editions of the World Aquatics Championships and numerous World Cup events, including the 2023 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup final. However, the upcoming World Swimming Championships will mark Hungary's first time as host of the world championships in a 25m pool.

The press conference will commence with a host of sports governance leaders, including World Aquatics President Husain Al-Musallam, World Aquatics Executive Director Brent Nowicki, Hungarian Swimming Association President and former Olympic swimming champion Sandor Wladar, and the Hungarian State Secretary for Sports, Adam Schmidt.

Headlining Athletes

World and Olympic champion Hubert Kos of Hungary is among the headlining athletes attending the press conference.

Kate Douglass of the United States and Kylie Masse of Canada will also feature at the press event.

Douglass, a double Olympic gold medallist, four-time World titlist and seven-time short course World champion, recently set multiple World Records during the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup this October. Masse arrives in Budapest as a three-time World champion, five-time Olympic medallist and nine-time short-course World medallist.

The roster of world-class athletes at the press conference also includes Daiya Seto, a four-time gold medallist at the World Aquatics Championships and nine-time World champion in the 25m pool. He will aim for his seventh consecutive World short-course win in the 400m Medley.

Some of the biggest names in swimming will also take part in these Championships, including Canada’s Summer McIntosh, China’s Qin Haiyang, Germany’s Florian Wellbrock, Italy’s Simona Quadarella, South Africa’s Chad le Clos, and Gretchen Walsh and Regan Smith of the United States.

Minna Abraham, Boglarka Kapas, Nandor Nemeth, and Szebasztian Szabo join Kos for the competing Hungarian team in their home pool. 

Media Invitation