2019 World Aquatics Championships

The 2019 World Aquatics Championships were the 18th FINA World Aquatics Championships, held in Gwangju, South Korea from 12 to 28 July 2019. The city had previously hosted the 2015 Summer Universiade aquatics events in the same venues.[2]

18th FINA World Championships
Host cityGwangju, South Korea
Date(s)12–28 July[1]
Venue(s)Nambu University
Chosun University
Yeosu Expo Ocean Park
Yeomju Gymnasium
Nations participating192
Athletes participating2,623
Officially opened byMoon Jae-in
Websitegwangju2019.com

Host selection

The host was announced on 19 July 2013 on the biennial General Congress of FINA in Barcelona, the host-city of the 2013 World Aquatics Championships.[3] Budapest was awarded the 2021 Championships in the same vote, though in 2015 it was announced that they will host the 2017 Championships due to Guadalajara's withdrawal. Fukuoka was subsequently awarded the 2021 event.

The awarding was controversial within Korea as the South Korean government claimed that the mayor of Gwangju had forged the signature of endorsement.[4] As a result, the Korean government initially refused to fund the event, but eventually agreed upon passage of a law that required National Assembly approval for future bids for major sporting events.

Symbols

The mascots for the event were a pair of otters, chosen due to their natural habitat being in the mountains near Gwangju, as well as their symbolizing "swimmers' passion for challenge", according to the organizing committee. The slogan of the Championships, meanwhile, was "Dive Into Peace".[5]

Venues

Most of the competitions were held at the Main Aquatics Centre, built for the 2015 Summer Universiade, also hosted in Gwangju.[6] The Aquatics Centre hosted the swimming and diving competitions, and there were two adjacent outdoor temporary venues for synchronised swimming and water polo.[7]

  • The Nambu Municipal University Aquatics Center (swimming, diving)
  • Nambu University Stadium (water polo)
  • Yeomju Gymnasium (artistic swimming)
  • Chosun University Football Field (high diving)
  • Yeosu Expo Ocean Park (open water swimming)

Schedule

A total of 76 Medal events were held across six disciplines.[8] Beach water polo was introduced as a demonstration, non-medal event.

Opening ceremony Other competitions Finals Closing ceremony MMen's matches WWomen's matches
July 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Total
Ceremonies76
Swimming 4 4 5 5 5 5 6 8 42
Open water swimming 1 1 1 1 1 2 7
Artistic swimming 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 10
Diving 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 13
High diving 1 1 2
Water polo W M W M W M W M W M W M W M 2
Beach water polo W M W M W M 2

Medal table

China topped the medal table, although the United States won the highest number of medals in total.[9] Host nation South Korea earned one bronze medal, from Kim Su-ji in the Women's 1 m springboard.

  *   Host nation (South Korea)

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 China1611330
2 United States15111036
3 Russia1211730
4 Australia79723
5 Hungary5005
6 Italy46515
7 Great Britain42612
8 Germany3238
9 Brazil2327
10 Canada22711
11 Japan22610
12 France1337
13 Sweden1225
14 Ukraine1157
15 South Africa1124
16 Spain0415
17 Mexico0246
18 Greece0101
 Malaysia0101
 Netherlands0101
 Norway0101
  Switzerland0101
23 Croatia0011
 Egypt0011
 New Zealand0011
 South Korea*0011
Totals (26 nations)767777230

Participating nations

Out of 209 FINA members, 191 nations took part in the Championships, as well as a Refugee Team of FINA Independent Athletes. 194 teams initially entered,[10][11] setting a new record number of participating nations. However, Lesotho and the United Arab Emirates subsequently withdrew their athletes and did not appear on the start list.[12][13]

Media coverage

In the United States, NBCUniversal holds rights to the event.[14][15]

References

  1. FINA.org
  2. (Gwangju, Budapest win right to host worlds); posted by Reuters on 19 July 2013.
  3. Gwangju Wins Bid to Host 2019 Aquatics Championships
  4. FINA World Championships Bidding Scandal Creates Gwangju Money Woes
  5. Otters Symbolically Chosen as Gwangju 2019 World Championships Mascots
  6. Our Plan posted by gwangju2019.com. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  7. 18th FINA World Championships - Venue Info
  8. Schedule
  9. "Medals". fina.org. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  10. "PR 57 - FINA Bureau Meeting in Gwangju (KOR)". FINA. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  11. "Gwangju 2019 World Championships boast record 194 participating nations". SwimSwam. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  12. "Entry List by Event and Nation" (PDF). FINA. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  13. "Results Book". FINA. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  14. "FINA partners with Universal Sports: new media rights agreement in the USA until 2021". FINA. 27 January 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  15. "NBCUniversal acquires Universal Sports programming from World Championship Sports Network". NBC Sports Group. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
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