The World Aquatics Masters Championships (formerly the FINA World Masters Championships) are an international multi-sport aquatics championships for competitors aged 25 years and older, in accordance with World Aquatics rules and regulations. It is the highest level of masters swimming in the world. The championships are usually held biennially, with competition in all five World Aquatics disciplines: swimming, diving, water polo, open water swimming, and artistic swimming.Masters Worlds subpage of the FINA website; retrieved 2012-03-04. Starting in 2015, the competition has been held jointly with the World Aquatics Championships.
History The event is organised by World Aquatics, the global governing body for aquatic sports. Originally called the FINA World Masters Championships, now the World Aquatics Masters Championships since Fukuoka 2023 after FINA rebranded to World Aquatics. Competition is for athletes aged 25 and older, with a minimum age of 30 in water polo.https://www.worldaquatics.com/news/2979029/fina-becomes-world-aquatics-as-new-brand-launched
The first edition of the championships under this formal masters program was held in 1986 in Tokyo, Japan. The championships draw a global field of international athletes, the 2025 edition in Singapore — the first time the event was held in Southeast Asia — hosted around 6,000 athletes from approximately 100 countries.
Over the decades, the championships have grown into the premier global competition for masters aquatics. Participation has increased substantially as masters sport and the aquatics sports in general have expanded worldwide, with athletes representing clubs and national federations across every continent. The event has also evolved to accommodate the continued growth of masters competition, with programmes expanding across all five aquatic disciplines and age categories extending into the oldest age groups.https://www.worldaquatics.com/news/4388510/world-aquatics-masters-championships-singapore-2025-wrap-up?.com Competitors at the championships range from former Olympic and world-class athletes to lifelong competative participants, reflecting the championships' emphasis on lifelong participation, international friendship, and competitive excellence.https://www.worldaquatics.com/news/1909998/fina-world-masters-championships-2017-budapest-day-1-?.com
A significant milestone in the event's development came at Kazan 2015, when the World Aquatics Masters Championships began being staged alongside the World Aquatics Championships.https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/2025-world-aquatics-championships This integration enabled masters athletes to compete in many of the same world-class venues as they are set up for elite competition and strengthened the profile of masters aquatics within the international sporting calendar. In 2023, following the governing body's rebranding from FINA to World Aquatics, the championships adopted their current title, the World Aquatics Masters Championships, while maintaining the competition's traditions and continuing to attract thousands of competitors from around the world to compete at the pinnacle of international masters swimming. The Budapest 2027 World Aquatics Championships will mark an even closer alignment, running elite and masters programs concurrently in June and July, 2027.https://www.worldaquatics.com/competitions/5546/world-aquatics-championships-budapest-2027
Disciplines The Championships typically include competition in:
Swimming – held in 50 m long course pools with age groups divided in five-year increments.
Open Water Swimming – usually contested over distances such as 3 km.
Diving – including springboard, platform, and synchronised events.
Artistic Swimming – solo, duet, mixed duet, and team routines.
Water Polo – with age-group tournaments for both men's and women's teams.
Age groups begin at 25–29 (or 30–34 in water polo) and progress in five-year increments (25–29, 30–34, 35–39, etc.) without an upper limit and discipline is separated into gender and age categories. This structure ensures fair competition within comparable age brackets. Relay teams use combined age totals, allowing teams to form squads across multiple age groups. Competitors represent both their registered club/team and compete under the flag of their national federation.https://www.worldaquatics.com/news/3911436/about-doha-2024-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-world-aquatics-masters-championships?.com
Editions Number Year Location Dates ResultsNon-FINA World Masters Championships - 1978 Toronto, Canada 30–31 Augusthttps://www.usms.org/hist/swimmaster/1978_swimmaster_v7n5_06.pdf - 1984 Christchurch, New Zealand 24–28 Aprilhttps://www.usms.org/hist/swimmaster/1984_sw.pdf FINA World Masters Championships 1 1986 Tokyo, Japan 12–16 July 2 1988 Brisbane, Australia 10–15 October 3 1990 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 6–13 August 4 1992 Indianapolis, USA 25 June–5 July 5 1994 Montreal, Canada 4–10 July 6 1996 Sheffield, Great Britain 23 June–3 July 7 1998 Casablanca, Morocco 19–30 June 8 2000 Munich, Germany 29 July–4 August 9 2002 Christchurch, New Zealand 21 March–3 April 10 2004 Riccione, Italy 1–13 June 11 2006 Stanford, USA 4–17 August 12 2008 Perth, Australia 18–25 April 13 2010 Gothenburg-Borås, Sweden 27 July–7 August 14 2012 Riccione, Italy 3–17 June 15 2014 Montreal, Canada 27 July–10 August Jointly with the World Aquatics Championships 16 2015 Kazan, Russia 5–16 August 17 2017 Budapest, Hungary 7–20 August 18 2019 Gwangju, South Korea 5–18 August 19 2023 Fukuoka, Japan 2–11 August 20 2024 Doha, Qatar 23 February–3 March 21 2025 Singapore 26 July–22 August 22 2027 Budapest, Hungary 23 2029 Beijing, China
Host cities
Swimming Results Results are archived on the Masters section on the World Aquatics website.https://www.worldaquatics.com/results
2025 Source:https://www.swimrankings.net/index.php?page=meetDetail&meetId=654489
2024 Source:https://www.swimrankings.net/index.php?page=meetDetail&meetId=643808
2023 Source:https://www.swimrankings.net/index.php?page=meetDetail&meetId=640182
2019 Source:
Notable competitors
A number of prominent international athletes, Olympians and Olympic gold medalists, world champions, and other notable figures from aquatic sport have competed at the championships. The following list includes competitors and figures that have competed at the World Aquatics Masters Championships.
Jane Asher — British Masters swimmer who has won more than 20 gold medals at the World Aquatics Masters Championships and set more than 100 Masters world records. She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2006 and was awarded the British Empire Medal in 2018.
Ryan Bailey — American water polo player who competed at four consecutive Summer Olympics from 2000 to 2012. He won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics and later competed in Masters water polo.
Joelle Bekhazi — Canadian water polo player who represented Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and made nearly 600 international appearances during her career. Bekhazi later competed in Masters water polo, including at the 2023 World Aquatics Masters Championships in Kumamoto.
Svitlana Bondarenko — Ukrainian breaststroke swimmer who competed at three Olympic Games between 1996 and 2004. She won European Championship medals during her international career and later competed in Masters swimming.
Richard Burns — American Masters swimmer and one of the most accomplished athletes in the history of Masters swimming. Burns competed across numerous age groups, set numerous Masters world records and was inducted as an International Swimming Hall of Fame Masters Swimmer in 2026.
Anton Cerer — Yugoslav swimmer who competed at the 1936 and 1948 Summer Olympics and won two European Championship medals. After emigrating to the United States, Cerer became a highly successful Masters swimmer, dominating his age group at World Masters Championships into his eighties. He died at the age of 90 while training for the FINA World Masters Championships.
Mark Chay — Singaporean former Olympic swimmer who represented Singapore at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics. Chay later became a leading sports administrator, including serving as president of Singapore Aquatics, and has remained closely involved with international swimming and aquatics.
Alex Fong — Hong Kong swimmer who represented Hong Kong at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Fong later became a singer and actor while continuing to participate in swimming and marathon swimming, including long-distance open-water events.
Noriko Inada — Japanese swimmer who competed at three Olympic Games, in 1992, 2000 and 2004. Inada later became a prominent Masters swimmer and set three world records in the 35–39 age group at the 2014 World Aquatics Masters Championships.
Craig Klass — American water polo player who won a silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics. After his elite career, Klass competed in Masters water polo with the Olympic Club and was inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame in 2000.
Percy Knowles — Bahamian sailor who represented the Bahamas at four Summer Olympics between 1960 and 1972. Although his Olympic career was in sailing, Knowles later competed in Masters swimming and took part in the 2010 World Aquatics Masters Championships in Sweden.
Jennifer Knobbs — British-Canadian artistic swimmer who represented Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She subsequently competed in Masters artistic swimming, including at the World Masters Championships.
Mikako Kotani — Japanese former artistic swimmer who competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics and 1992 Summer Olympics, winning a bronze medal in the solo event and another bronze in the duet at the 1992 Games. Kotani later returned to artistic swimming as a Masters competitor and won gold in the mixed duet at the 2024 World Aquatics Masters Championships in Doha.
Sarra Lajnef — Tunisian swimmer who represented Tunisia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and subsequently competed in Masters swimming at international level.
Oleh Lisohor — Ukrainian breaststroke swimmer and former world champion who competed at three Olympic Games. Lisohor won the 50-metre breaststroke at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships and 2007 World Aquatics Championships and later competed in Masters swimming.
Jim Montgomery — American Olympic champion and former world-record holder. Montgomery won three gold medals and one bronze medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics and became the first man to break the 50-second barrier in the 100-metre freestyle. He subsequently became deeply involved in Masters swimming and founded and coached Masters programmes in the United States.
Giorgi Mshvenieradze — Soviet water polo player who won Olympic gold at the 1980 Summer Olympics and bronze at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Mshvenieradze later competed in Masters water polo at international Masters championships.
Ryk Neethling — South African Olympic champion who competed at four consecutive Olympic Games from 1996 to 2008. He won gold in the men's 4 × 100-metre freestyle relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics and later appeared in Masters competition.
Cindy Ong Pik Yin — Malaysian swimmer and five-time FINA World Masters champion. Ong began competing in Masters competition in 2017 and won five gold and two silver medals at the 2019 World Aquatics Masters Championships in Gwangju.
Yoshihiko Osaki — Japanese Olympic swimmer who won a silver and a bronze medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics. Osaki became an important figure in the development of Masters swimming in Japan and was involved in the organisation of the first FINA World Masters Championships in Tokyo in 1986. He later competed successfully in Masters swimming and won multiple World Masters titles.