Aquatics World Championships Open in Kazan

(ATR) The International Aquatics Federation World Championships begin July 24 in Kazan, Russia.

Competition will run through August 9, at the same time as the World Masters Championships, which will run from Aug. 5-14.

FINA president Julio Maglione told Around the Rings on July 22 that 180 federations would be participating in the championships, the most ever.

The opening ceremony will be repeated for the first seven days to "give the opportunity for all of the people of Kazan to see." Around 6500 athletes are expected to compete in Kazan.

Kazan last hosted the 2013 World University Games, and the aquatics center built for the Games will host some events in the championship. Kazan Arena Stadium has also been repurposed to be the main stadium for the championships.

The decision to use the 15,000-seat stadium for the championships was done to keep costs down as per Olympic Agenda 2020, Maglione said.

2020 Short Course Champs Awarded

Abu Dhabi will host the 2020 FINA short course world championships.

The Middle Eastern city won hosting rights at the 2015 FINA Aquatics Convention on Thursday. Abu Dhabi beat out Astana Kazakhstan and Lima, Peru for the championships.

"I am sure that Abu Dhabi will be also a memorable milestone for the FINA family," Julio Maglione, said at the convention after awarding the winner.

"We are very happy to return to the UAE, where the 2010 edition of these championships took place in Dubai, with an outstanding success."

The short course world championships take place on even numbered years and feature races in a 25-meter pool, rather than the standard 50-meter Olympic sized pools. The next two editions of the championships will take place in Windsor, Canada and Hangzhou, China.

Written by Aaron Bauer

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.