Finswimming has featured as a trend sport at the World Games since the inaugural 1981 World Games held in Santa Clara, California.
Organization of World Games competition Participation is reserved for the best swimmers and the best relay teams. Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS), the international federation responsible for finswimming, selects participants on the basis of the CMAS World Ranking which is a listing of the best performing senior and junior men and women from the most recent Finswimming World Championships and the rounds of the annual World Cup. The eight best qualifying swimmers in the CMAS World Ranking are obligated to compete while other swimmers will be invited to participate. The final selection of swimmers is the responsibility of the CMAS Finswimming Commission with agreement from the CMAS Board of Directors. Each invited national federation may field no more than two swimmers per race and one relay team. A place in the relay is available for the World Games host if it chooses to field a team.
As of November 2013, the program consists of qualifying and final races held over two days for the following techniques and distances for senior men and women: Apnoea swimming (AP) - 50m, Surface swimming (SF) - 100m, 200m, 400m and the 4 × 100 m relay.
Medalists
Men
50m surface 1997 Lahti
100m surface 1981 Santa Clara 1985 London 1989 Karlsruhe 1993 The Hague 1997 Lahti2001 Akita 2005 Duisburg 2009 Kaohsiung 2013 Cali 2017 Wrocław 2022 Birmingham 2025 Chengdu
200m surface 1981 Santa Clara 1985 London 1989 Karlsruhe 1993 The Hague 1997 Lahti2001 Akita 2005 Duisburg 2009 Kaohsiung 2013 Cali 2017 Wrocław 2022 Birmingham 2025 Chengdu
400m surface 1981 Santa ClaraThe gold medalist in the 1981 men's 400m surface event, Italy's Giuseppe Galantucci, swam with bi-fins and recorded 3:28.01, while the other medalists used the generally faster monofins. 1985 London 1989 Karlsruhe 1993 The Hague 1997 Lahti2001 Akita 2005 Duisburg 2009 Kaohsiung 2013 Cali 2017 Wrocław 2022 Birmingham 2025 Chengdu
800m surface 1985 London
1500m surface 1981 Santa Clara 1985 London
4x50m relay 2022 BirminghamJuan RodríguezJuan DuqueMauricio FernándezJuan OcampoZhang SiqianShan YonganWang ZhihaoTong ZhenboJustus MörstedtMalte StrieglerRobert GoleniaMax Poschart2025 ChengduMax PoschartNiklas LoßnerJustus MörstedtMarek LeipoldSerhii SmishchenkoOleksandr KuzmenkoDavyd YelisieievOleksii ZakharovJuan RodríguezJuan DuqueMauricio FernándezJuan Ocampo
4x100m relay 1985 London 1989 Karlsruhe1993 The Hague 1997 LahtiSergey AchapovSergey DokuchayevMaksim MaksimovAleksandr Nechitaylo Hu HailongLi YongLiu QuirongZhao JiLuca GuarnaschelliRubes LevadaAndrea MangheriniLuca Tonelli2001 AkitaIlya SomovYevgeniy SkorzhenkoMaksim MaksimovSergey AchapovZhao JiHu HailongHuang JiandongLi YongFrank WilleSven KaiserSven GallaschAndreas Utzmeir2005 DuisburgAndrey BurakovYevgeniy SkorzhenkoAleksandr PanyutinPavel Kabanov Dmitro SydorenkoViktor PanevDmitriy ArtemchukIgor Soroka Riccardo GalliLorenzo MinisolaCesare FumarolaAndrea Nava2009 KaohsiungViktor PanevDmitriy ShekeraIgor Soroka Dmitro SydorenkoStefano FiginiCesare FumarolaGianluca ManciniAndrea NavaAndrey BurakovPavel KulakovNikolay ReznikovYevgeniy Skorzhenko2013 CaliPavel KabanovAleksey KazantsevAndrey BarabashDmitry KokorevJuan David Duque JimenezMauricio Fernandez CastilloJuan Fernando Ocampo LozadaLeonidas Juan Pablo Romero RiveraDenys GrubnikOleksandr KonkovEvgen StepanchukDmitro Sydorenko2017 WrocławPavel KabanovAleksey KazantsevDmitry KokorevDmitry ZhurmanKevin ZanardiAndrea NavaStefano FiginiCesare FumarolaMax LauschusMax PoschartFlorian KritzlerMalte Striegler2022 BirminghamRobert GoleniaMalte StrieglerJustus MörstedtMax PoschartJuan RodríguezJuan DuqueMauricio FernándezJuan OcampoWang ZhihaoTong ZhenboZhang SiqianShan Yongan2025 ChengduNiklas LoßnerJustus MörstedtMarek LeipoldMax PoschartSerhii SmishchenkoOleksandr KuzmenkoDavyd YelisieievOleksii ZakharovShin Myeong-junLee Dong-jinJang Hyoung-hoKwon Nam-ho
4x200m relay 1985 London1989 Karlsruhe1993 The Hague1997 LahtiSergey AchapovSergey DokuchayevMaksim MaksimovAleksandr Nechitaylo Peter BalazsGergely JuhosNenes KayoNorbert SavanyaLuca GuarnaschelliRubes LevadaRubes LevadaLuca Tonelli
50m apnoea 1981 Santa Clara 1985 London 1989 Karlsruhe 1993 The Hague 1997 Lahti2001 Akita 2005 Duisburg 2009 Kaohsiung 2013 Cali 2017 Wrocław 2022 Birmingham 2025 Chengdu
100m immersion 1981 Santa Clara 1985 London1989 Karlsruhe 1993 The Hague1997 Lahti
400m immersion 1985 London
50m bi-fins 2017 Wrocław 2022 Birmingham 2025 Chengdu
100m bi-fins 2017 Wrocław 2022 Birmingham 2025 Chengdu
Women
50m surface 1997 Lahti
100m surface 1981 Santa Clara 1985 London 1989 Karlsruhe 1993 The Hague 1997 Lahti2001 Akita 2005 Duisburg 2009 Kaohsiung 2013 Cali 2017 Wrocław 2022 Birmingham
200m surface 1981 Santa Clara 1985 London 1989 Karlsruhe 1993 The Hague 1997 Lahti2001 Akita 2005 Duisburg 2009 Kaohsiung 2013 Cali 2017 Wrocław 2022 Birmingham
400m surface 1981 Santa Clara 1985 London 1989 Karlsruhe 1993 The Hague 1997 Lahti2001 Akita 2005 Duisburg 2009 Kaohsiung 2013 Cali 2017 Wrocław 2022 Birmingham
800m surface 1981 Santa Clara1985 London
4x50m relay 2022 BirminghamShu ChengjingHu YaoyaoChen SijiaXu YichuanPaula Alejandra Aguirre JoyaDiana MorenoViviana Retamozo OlayaGrace Fernandez CastilloMoon Ye-jinKim Min-jeongJang Ye-solSeo Ui-jin
4x100m relay 1989 Karlsruhe1993 The Hague1997 LahtiLi ShaozhenWang YanWu XiaohuiZhu XiaSvetlana GanchaOksana KorolevaNatalya MusychenkoYuliya ChirikovaBeata BozsoJudi ReveszBeata BömischVillo Varga2001 AkitaTatyana KomarovaLidiya GoryachevaIrina YegoruchkinaAnastasiya KochnevaZhu BaozhenLi QingpingWu XiaohuiLiu QiSuzanne JentzschTina HirschfeldtBettina MüllerChristine Müller2005 DuisburgValentina ArtemevaSvetlana DedyukhAnastasiya GlukhikhVasilisa KravchukZhu BaozhenZhong JiexiaChen XiaopingLiu QiBae So-HyunHong Hye-SunJeon Ah-RamKim Hyeon-Jin2009 KaohsiungLi JingLiang YaoyueXu HuanshanZhu BaozhenChoi Sae-RomJang Ye-SolJeon Ah-RamKim Hyeon-JinValeriya BaranovskayaMedeya DzhavakhishviliYana KasimovaVasilisa Kravchuk2013 CaliValeriya BaranovskayaVera IlyushinaElena KononovaVasilisa KravchukAnastasiia AntoniakMargaryta ArtiushenkoOlga ShlyakhovskaYana TrofymezLi JingLiang YaoyueLiu JiaoXu Yichuan2017 WrocławValeriya BaranovskayaAnna BerAleksandra SkurlatovaEkaterina MikhaylushkinaGrace Fernandez CastilloViviana Retamozo OlayaKelly Ximena Perez RubioPaula Alejandra Aguirre JoyaJang Ye-solKim Eun-kyoungeKim Ga-inKim Bo-kyung2022 BirminghamShu ChengjingHu YaoyaoChen SijiaXu YichuanSára SubaPetra SenánszkyCsilla KárolyiKrisztina VargaGrace Fernandez CastilloViviana Retamozo OlayaDiana MorenoPaula Alejandra Aguirre Joya
4x200m relay 1989 Karlsruhe1993 The Hague1997 LahtiLi ShaozhenWang YanWu XiaohuiZhu XiaYuliya ChirikovaSvetlana GanchaOksana KorolevaNatalya MusychenkoBeata BozsoJudi ReveszBeata BömischVillo Varga
50m apnoea 1981 Santa Clara 1985 London 1989 Karlsruhe 1993 The Hague 1997 Lahti2001 Akita 2005 Duisburg 2009 Kaohsiung 2013 Cali 2017 Wrocław 2022 Birmingham
100m immersion 1981 Santa Clara 1985 London 1989 Karlsruhe 1993 The Hague 1997 Lahti
400m immersion 1985 London
50m bi-fins 2017 Wrocław 2022 Birmingham
100m bi-fins 2017 Wrocław 2022 Birmingham
Medal table
References
External links World Games at Sports123 by Internet Archive CMAS Finswimming Championships Archive