World Champs Diary: Budapest To Sink Swimming Into MVN Dome At 2027 Worlds
Our World Championships Diary: home to our potted coverage of events outside the big events in open water & pool swimming, but including diary items from the main competition pool during our time in Singapore focussing on the 8 days of racing in the pool (July 27-August 3)
Several announcements were made at World Aquatics Congress in Singapore today, including Budapest's plans for the 2027 World Championships; Beijing's hosing of the 2026 World short-course swimming championships on the way to the long-course showcase a year later; and the launch later his year of a post-career compensation fund for athletes to help them transition into the rest of life when their careers end.
The latter is linked to another announcement: the creation of a World Aquatics Foundation, which will seek private funding from donors and partners, as well as federations. Some of that support would end up in the 'compensation' scheme.
Meanwhile, Budapest 2027 World Aquatics Championships organisers announced that they will host the swimming events not in the Duna Arena (which will be used for other aquatics disciplines) but in the MVN Dome, a huge entertainment complex and concert venue that will have temporary pools sunk into its structural belly.
Compensation For A Young Life In Swimming
World Aquatics is to launch a post-career compensation fund to help athletes transition from their competitive careers into the rest of life. The fund starts with an initial investment of US$10m this autumn and the conditions attached include...
- athletes must compete in 75% of all WA events open to them over a four year period to qualify for the fund.
- a percentage of any prize money earned will be invested in the C fund, to be a part of a lump sum payment that athletes can receive upon official retirement.
- The mechanism is an incentive for swimmers to attend the World Cup, which will be renamed the 361 Cup from this season to reflect the Chinese sponsorship of an event that struggles to attract any attention beyond the swim fan base
Editorial points.
- A note on the Cup branding: 361 is the brand that Sun Yang* wore on his cap for several seasons of his career, including some at a tome when he was at the very heart of anti-doping controversy. SOS looks forward to the day all kit makes and other sponsors agree a common clause and publish I for all to see, asking athletes and others to agree that they will pay back all of their recompense and support should they ever fall foul of anti-doping regulations and be found to be at fault with no mitigating circumstances. The money could then be passed into the compensation fund.
- A plan to help athletes transition is a fine thing in principle. I'm not so keen on the coercive element of linking to whether folk show up to a wold cup series, the costs of travel on such a tour hardly like to help athletes save for their own futures, as things stand for most of those who compete in the series.
- There was no mention of parents and coaches and the vast years of subsidising and supporting young athletes. Perhaps it will be left to trust that athletes will think it appropriate to share a little of the 'compensation' with those who made their own sacrifices to get them to where they go to.
- Congress continues to be a gathering of national federations at which the art of standard checks and balances is an alien concept. Throughout the entire Congress, regardless of how many times the president of World Aquatics asked from the top table 'has anyone got any questions', just one Scandinavian delegate had any questions about any of the business as it unfolded. She wanted to know, reasonably an d for obvious reasons, if those counting votes could please use numbers instead of percentages when calling out results. They could not but they would get her the numbers afterwards if she sought them out. Beyond that, no clarification on any issue was sought, no counter view given. t was more politburo than parliament.
- There were touching reunions between Kirsty Coventry and Susie O'Neill, and Coventry and Kim Bracken, the coach who guided her to Olympic gold medals in the 200m backstroke in 2004 and 2008.
- Governance prizes and plaudits were handed out and the American top tabler suggested that having the same hosts (Hungary, China and Middle East countries, for example) for WA events come back time and time again was a reflection of how valuable aquatics had become. Actually, it is a reflection of a business model that follows the money and support for heavily subsidised sports events wherever it and they may be, a model that in its basic form has survived the reform process very much n its infancy yet, as president Hussain Al-Musallam suggested: 'there's a lot of work still to do'.
You can watch the whole session here:
Also in the World Champs Diary for readers who sign up for free content:
- On This Day: Birthday Bash For Smith's First World Record
- Small Venue, Big Week Ahead
- Keeney Grabs 1m Gold For Aussies On Diving Day 1
- On This Day In History - Day By Day... lists, and some stories from the past, like these:
Craig Lord
July 22: Today marks the 25th anniversary of Inge de Bruijn's World-record victory for The Netherlands in the 100m butterfly at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Her three-golds triumph at the Games was the climax of a bull run on World records in 2000:
Craig Lord
Today also marks the 24th anniversary of Ian Thorpe's stunning 3:40.17 World record in the 400m freestyle ahead of teammate Grant Hackett (3:42.51) at the Fukuoka 2001 World Championships for one of a record six gold medals. His other victories unfolded in the 200m and 800m freestyle, also in World record times (200, 1:44.06 ahead of a 1:45.81 from De Bruijn's teammate and Olympic champion Pieter van den Hoogenband; 800, 7:39.16, the first sub-7:40 in history, ahead of a 7:40.34 from teammate Hackett), and all three men's relays, the 4x100 and 4x200 free and 4x100 medley with Aussie mates who contributed to the Dolphins first victory over the United States on the medals table for the first time in history at World titles. The second time it happened, the best swimmer sin the world were back in Fukuoka, two years ago.
Thorpey's epic home Olympics and what happened next:
Craig Lord
- Spain Reign Anew As Defeat Of Hungary Grants Golden Retirement To Spanish Captain captain Felipe Perrone Rocha
- Stomach Bug Hits USA Camp In Thailand
- Spain Stun Greece In Penalty Shootout To Make Men's WP Final With Hungary, Serbians To Fight For Bronze
- Austrian Sisters Take Synchro Duet Gold As Greek Women Knock USA Polo Title Holders Out Of Contention
- Men's WP: Hungary & Greece In, Doha Top Two, Croatia & Italy, Out
- Women's WP: Spain Rains On Dutch Ambitions & Hungary Blocks Italy
- Men's WP: Men's Last Eight - Line-Ups Set For Next Stage On Sunday
- Women's WP: Quarter Finals In Place: AUS v GRE; USA v JPN; HUN v ITA; ESP v NED
- Men's WP: Spain Inflict Pain Of Ferocious Comeback On Hungary
- Women's WP: Olympic Champs Spain Joined by AUS, USA & HUN As Group Winners Into Quarter Finals
- LA2028 Aquatics Schedule and Dates Confirmed
- Men's WP: Italy Upset Olympic Champs Serbia 17-16 In Penalty Shootout
- Back Injury Puts Stubblety-Cook Out Of Singapore Worlds
- Singapore Entries In Full
- Wiffen Twins Turn 24
- Daily wrap of water polo match reports
- World Champs Off The Blocks + 10 Things To Know
