The World Aquatics Junior Open Water Swimming Championships 2026 will set a new athlete participation record, as the world's best young open water swimmers head to Santa Fe, Argentina, from 3-6 September.
This year's edition will see 39 National Federations represented, matching the record set at Alghero 2024, while 273 athletes are set to compete – a new high for the event and clear evidence of the sport's continued growth at junior level.
“Year after year, the World Aquatics Junior Open Water Swimming Championships proves itself as one of the clearest development pathways we have in the sport. Record numbers on the entry list this year shows just how much depth is coming through at junior level, and history tells us a number of the athletes racing in Santa Fe will go on to compete on the biggest stages in our sport," said Olympic and World Champion Ferry Weertman.
"Beyond results, the event is also just an incredible experience. Racing against the best young swimmers from around the world builds friendships and memories that stay with you for life, wherever your career takes you"
The World Aquatics Junior Open Water Swimming Championships has historically provided a launchpad for many of the sport's biggest names.
Former world junior champions include Paris 2024 Olympic gold medallist in the Men’s 10km Kristóf Rasovszky, and his fellow Hungarian Dávid Betlehem, who won Olympic bronze in Paris and was the overall winner of the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup in 2026. France’s Sacha Velly progressed from being crowned Men’s 10km gold medallist at the 2024 edition of the Junior Open Water Swimming Championships to winning two Open Water Swimming World Cup golds – the Mixed 4x1500m in Golfo Aranci in 2025 and the Men’s 10km at the same stop this year.
Mexico’s Paulo Strehlke meanwhile won silver at the Junior Open Water Swimming Championships in 2022, and earned his first Open Water Swimming World Cup medal with silver in the Men’s 3km Knockout Sprint in Golfo Aranci earlier this year.
On the women’s side, American swimmer Katie Grimes won a World Junior Open Water title in 2022, before going on to claim an Olympic silver in the pool in the Women’s 400m Medley at Paris 2024 and win medals in both Swimming and Open Water Swimming at the World Aquatics Championships.
Claire Weinstein, a multiple World Junior Open Water champion, has since gone on to win the Open Water Swimming World Cup circuit and medal at the World Aquatics Championships in Swimming.
The three-day Championships in Santa Fe will feature 5km, 7.5km and 10km individual races, the 3km Knockout Sprint, and conclude with the Mixed 4x1500m Relay.
With record participation both on the entry list and on the roster of competing nations, the 2026 edition promises to showcase the depth of talent coming through in Open Water Swimming, and the clear and growing pathway it offers to the very top of the sport.