World Aquatics Plan To Reintroduce Yards World Records in 2026
World Aquatics is set to bring back yards records 70 years since traditional English linear distances went metric-only & 58 years since all yards events measures were scrapped as swimming became exclusively metric
April 1 - A year from today, World Aquatics, rebranded from FINA in late 2022, will start the clock ticking on a new era of World s/c yards records in recognition of the enthusiasm of fans for a wave of fast and thrilling racing that transcends American college swimmers.
Beyond the USA Swimming events and the likes of sectional competitions still staged in short-course pools from time to time, the NCAA Championships is he obvious highlight of the s/c yards season in the United States, where the yards record book is flush with overseas swimmers who topped the swim ranks during their time at U.S. college.
The latest examples are none other than Olympic champions Léon Marchand, of France, and Hubert Kós, of Hungary, who helped the Arizona's Sun Devils to their debut title in 2024 and, in Kós' case, the Texas Longhorns to their 16th crown last weekend. On the women's side, look no further that Gretchen Walsh, party to a bull run of University of Virginia NCAA titles and 2024 World s/c metres star:
Craig Lord
Craig Lord
A source close to the top table of world swimming told SOS that the International federation's move was part of plans to introduce new formats to the sport from 2026, the year after Singapore's 2025 World Championships marks the last of four long-course global showcases in succession - as Covid contracts played out - and the end of a short-lived but impactful chapter driven by the pandemic.
Plans include the possibility of introducing short-course yards into the World Cup circuit.
There were two key sticking points in the discussion at World Aquatics that led to the decision to hook swimming back to its roots in yards pools:
- almost no other nations outside the U.S. now have any pools in imperial measures. The point was said to be mute when delegates noted that there are many pools that serve both long and short-course events through use of mobile booms capable of being set top a short-course yards measure.
- the NCAA was the subject of deep discussion when the World Aquatics leadership and its heavy American presence, debated where to set the yardstick of 'world best' as the target for swimmers to aim for from April 2026.
According to sources, it was felt that NCAA times could not be recognised by World Aquatics because the American college sports organisation is not affiliated to the global federation and operates under a different set of rules, some of which have been diametrically opposite to international swimming regulations.
The protection of the women's category for females only is a prime example of the gulf between respect for safe and fair play provisions and a lack of those in NCAA competition in 2022, when Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer no longer identifying with and acknowledging the sports advantages of their own male biology, was allowed to race among women and claim the 500 yards freestyle title for females.
The discussion over jurisdiction led World Aquatics to take the recent introduction of the 4x100m mixed medley relay as a useful yardstick when opting for a back-to-the-future decision that may make April 2026 a month of many world-record attempts.
The standard times will be set according to the last time a World swimming record was held in a yards pool. While the list of event, strokes and distance is yet to be finalised, according to a source close to the pending process of reintroducing yards, the book of last yards world records held dates back to a period stretching from 1933 to 1968 (see below for list in full).
