Doha to Host World Swimming Championships, Welcoming Athletes from Around the Globe
The Doha World Swimming Championships are set to open tomorrow, from February 2 to 18, marking the first time this major event will take place in a tropical desert climate. The championships, which were once held every four years, will now become an annual event starting in 2021.
This year’s event follows the 2021 Fukuoka World Swimming Championships, which was postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic and eventually held in July 2023. The Doha World Championships were originally scheduled for 2023 but were rescheduled to the beginning of 2024, making it the first time the World Swimming Championships will be held in the same year as the Olympic Games. Singapore is already set to host the 2025 World Championships, resulting in a succession of major swimming events from 2022 to 2025.
The event will include six major events: diving, synchronized swimming, open water swimming, water polo, swimming, and high platform diving—most of which are Olympic qualifying events. The urgency surrounding this year’s championships is due to the determination of Olympic qualifications based on each athlete’s performance.
Although some swimming masters have chosen to focus on the Olympics and foregone the Doha World Championships, the Chinese team will be represented by promising young swimmers, giving them the opportunity to shine on the international stage.
Looking at foreign famous players, notable swimmers such as American Olympic champions Ledecky, Dressel, Cohen-Smith, and Lily King, Canadian Olympic champion McNeil, evidencing no participation. The Australian team will have 18 participants.
In the diving event, foreign athletes will be competing for Olympic qualifications, while the Chinese diving team’s main players, including Chen Yuxi and Quan Hongchan, who have already secured full quotas, will participate and seek to showcase their prowess once again.
The synchronized swimming event will see the Chinese team, which secured a seat in Paris by winning the pairs and team events at the Hangzhou Asian Games, participating in all 11 events of the World Championships for the first time. 45-year-old American synchronized swimming “godfather” Bill May will also appear in Doha, indicating the international significance of this event.
The Doha World Swimming Championships are expected to be a captivating display of exceptional athleticism and unwavering determination as athletes compete for Olympic qualifications and international recognition.