Posted Mar 2nd 2007, 11:46am by Thomas Stone

FINA championship history

1 September, 2005
In 1973, the Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA), chose the city of Belgrade as the site of the first ever World Swimming Championships. The success of the event encouraged FINA to make the Championships a permanent fixture on the aquatic calendar, and since the first event, over 30 years ago, a total of ten different cities have hosted the Championships (Perth has hosted the event twice) with Melbourne soon to become the 11th:

1973 - Belgrade, Yugoslavia
1975 - Cali, Colombia
1978 - Berlin, West Germany
1982 - Guyaquil, Ecuador
1986 - Madrid, Spain
1991 - Perth, Australia
1994 - Rome, Italy
1998 - Perth, Australia
2001 - Fukuoka, Japan
2003 - Barcelona, Spain
2005 - Montreal, Canada

Since Belgrade, the aquatic world has seen numerous changes to its flagship event. In 1998, FINA decided to move the Championships from a four to two year cycle, and the event has seen a steady increase in the number of countries and athletes taking part.

The below table summarises the development of the Championships over the years:

Host City Year Countries Athletes Attendance
Belgrade 1973 47 686 -
Cali 1975 39 682 -
Berlin 1978 49 828 -
Guayaquil 1982 52 848 -
Madrid 1986 34 1,119 -
Perth 1991 60 1,142 60,000
Rome 1994 102 1,400 110,000
Perth 1998 121 1,371 95,000
Fukuoka 2001 134 1,498 105,000
Barcelona 2003 157 2,015 205,000
Montreal 2005 144 1784 160,000


The growth in the event has not been limited to those taking part. During this time both attendances and television audiences have also grown. In Barcelona in 2003, such was the success of the event the global television audience was in excess of 850 million people, and was greater again in Montreal.

The number of disciplines involved in the championships has increased, with Open Water Swimming an addition to the championship schedule at the 1991 Perth Championships. Swimming, Diving and Water Polo have also seen developments in their respective sports, as summarised below.

Swimming
• Addition of 50m form strokes (breaststroke, backstroke & butterfly) events (2001)
• Addition of 800m freestyle for men, 1500m freestyle for women (2001)
• 4 x 200m freestyle relay for women (1986)

Diving
• Synchronised Diving (1998)

Water Polo
• Women's water polo (1986)

Open Water Swimming
• 5km event introduced (1998)
• 10km event introduced (2001)