Hamad Aquatic Centre
Doha: The International Swimming Federation (FINA) yesterday confirmed Doha will hold the World Championships from February 2-18, 2024.
The 21st FINA Worlds were originally scheduled for the summer of 2023. However, due to the rescheduling of the 20th Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, to the summer of 2023 necessitated a change in the Doha event dates.
The Qatari capital will host FINA’s flagship event for the very first time after successfully hosting multiple FINA events over recent years, including the 12th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) 2014, nine editions of the FINA Swimming World Cup, four FINA Marathon Swim World Series events and a FINA Diving World Series event in 2009.
With 76 medal events taking place across the six FINA disciplines of swimming, artistic swimming, open water swimming, diving, high diving and water polo, Doha will provide an ideal setting for the world’s best aquatics competition. It will also serve as a stop on the road to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, providing qualification opportunities for the swimming, artistic swimming, open water swimming, diving, and water polo disciplines.
The championships in Doha will conclude 159 days before the start of the Paris Games on July 26 and it will be the third world championships in 19 months.
“At FINA, we are committed to giving athletes additional opportunities to compete on the championship stage. Today’s announcement is a testament to this.
We are extremely fortunate to have an event host in Doha that shares our passion for aquatics with the willingness and flexibility to organise this prestigious event to the benefit of aquatics athletes everywhere,” said FINA President Husain Al Musallam.
“The city’s world-class facilities will ensure that the athletes can perform at the highest level, inspiring the next generation of aquatics fans.”
FINA also stated that the swimming, artistic swimming and water polo will take place in the Aspire Dome, with the venue transforming from the world’s largest indoor multi-sport arena into the world’s largest indoor aquatics venue.
With sustainability and accessibility at the heart of the event, the diving competitions will be at the Hamad Aquatic Centre, with the high diving and open water swimming competitions set to take place near the Museum of Islamic Art.
