World Aquatics (former International Swimming Federation) announced the medals that will be awarded at the World Aquatics Championship that will be held in Fukuoka, Japan, from 14 to 30 July.
The Fukuoka World Cup, which was originally going to take place in 2021 and due to the Covid-19 pandemic it had to be rescheduled on a couple of occasions, will have six sports during the 17 days of competition: swimming, artistic swimming, open water, diving, high diving and water polo.
In total, there will be 75 events that will distribute medals and the first podium will be defined on July 15 with the women’s 10-kilometer open water event that will be held at Momochi Beach Park.
“The medals perfectly capture the Japanese aesthetic: elegant and progressive, but at the same time timeless”, highlights World Aquatics and explains that “the design has a fluid aquatic spirit that will surely resonate with athletes while capturing the splendor of the World Aquatics Championship”.
The novelty compared to the World Cup that took place last year in Budapest (Hungary) is that swimming will take place in the second week of competition and on the first day, in addition to the opening ceremony, it will have diving in the Prefectural Swimming Pool and synchronized swimming at Fukuoka Marine Messe.
The Fukuoka New Exhibition Hall will be the venue where water polo will be played: the women’s tournament will be held from May 16 to 21 and the next day the men’s tournament will begin, which will be defined on the 29th. Meanwhile, between the 25th and the 27th, high-altitude diving will take place at Momochi Beach Park.
“Water meets the future”, is the motto of the World Cup that will have the presence of swimming from July 23 in the pool of the Fukuoka Marine Messe and the first finals will be those of the 400 freestyle, 400 medleys and the 4x100 freestyle relay.
Meanwhile, the last medals awarded by the World Water Sports Championship will be awarded on July 30 with the definitions of the 4x100 medley relay for both men and women.
As had already happened at the World Water Sports Championship in Budapest 2022, Fukuoka will not have the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes, sanctioned since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Last month, World Aquatics announced the decision to maintain the exclusion of Russia and Belarus, at the same time it announced that it will meet again in July - the month in which the World Cup begins - to discuss the situation again.
Sanctions against Russia and Belarus also prohibit these countries from organizing international competitions, so World Aquatics decided last February that the 2025 World Cup, which was scheduled in Kazan, will finally be held in Singapore.