General facts

The vision:
Melbourne will stage the best ever FINA World
Championships in an environment that inspires athlete
performance and audience enjoyment.
Melbourne will host some of the fi nest athletes on the planet when the 12th FINA World
Championships begin in March 2007.
The World Championships will be held from 17 March - 1 April 2007.
The fi ve aquatics disciplines will be contested at the World Championships. They are:
- Swimming
- Open Water Swimming
- Diving
- Water Polo
- Synchronised Swimming
The venues for the World Championships are:
- Rod Laver Arena (RLA): Swimming and Synchronised Swimming
- Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC): Water Polo and Diving
- St Kilda Beach: Open Water Swimming
An estimated 2000 athletes from as many as 175 countries will compete
at the World Championships.
It is expected that more athletes will compete at next year’s World Championships than the
athletes that competed in the swimming and aquatics program at the 2000 Sydney Olympic
Games and the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
The estimated global television audience during the World Championships is expected to
reach one billion viewers.
The World Championships are expected to attract 12,000 interstate and international visitors
to Melbourne.
The estimated economic benefi t that the World Championships will bring to Melbourne
is $80 million.
Up to 1200 members of the international media are expected to attend the World Championships.
Approximately 2000 volunteers will assist in the delivery of the World Championships.
Melbourne will become the fi rst city to host the Olympic Games (1956); the Commonwealth
Games (2006); and the FINA World Championships (2007).
Melbourne was granted the right to host the 12th FINA World Championships in July 2003.
All athletes, coaches and offi cials will stay in hotel accommodation, there is no athletes village.