Everything you need to know about the 2019 Swimming World Championships
With just days to go until the first swimmers battle it out to determine the fastest males and females of the pool and with the athletes making their final preparations, excitement is certainly building.
Just as the build-up to any major championships there is much chatter over who will perform? Will that swimmer manages to defend their title? Will that world record finally be broken and exactly who will top the medals table come the closing ceremony?
While the answers to those questions may be different for each of you, I’m here to help get you up to speed on everything swimming world champs so that all you have to do is enjoy the action.
When and Where is the 2019 World Swimming Championships?
The 18th FINA World Championships are taking place in Gwangju, Korea from 12th to 28th July 2019. The championships incorporate all FINA aquatic disciplines with the swimming scheduled to take place at the Nambu International Aquatics Centre between Sunday 21st and 28th July 2019.
The Open water championships which include the 5km, 10km and relays are taking place at the Yeosu EXPO Ocean Park between 13th and 19th July 2019.
Gwangju itself is located in the southwest corner of South Korea and is known for a pro-democracy uprising in 1980. It sits close to the bottom of Mount Mudeung which is a popular hiking spot and it is also home to a variety of sports teams including the KIA Tigers Baseball team and Gwangju FC football (soccer) club.
How Can I watch?
If like me, you’re not going to be sat front and centre at the Nambu international Aquatic Centre then you’re probably wondering how you can catch the action right?
Don’t worry I’ve got you covered. From streaming online while you’re at work to catching the highlights that you missed because you value your sleep and time zones. Here’s a list of ways you can catch the action:
FINATV Live stream
As usual, FINA will be live streaming the entire championships (this includes the other aquatic disciplines too) on its own streaming platform. However, this does require a country-specific fee.
The BBC
With several medal hopefuls in its ranks, the BBC will be streaming selected sessions live as well as providing highlights to the others. This will be broadcast through a mix of TV, online streaming and radio platforms. As you would expect their schedule (which is published online) is mostly based around the major events of key British hopefuls such as Adam Peaty, James Guy and Siobhan-Marie O’Connor.
CBC Streams
The Canadian Broadcasting Company will also be live streaming some events covering a mix of all the disciplines. You can find the stream here.
The Olympic Channel
As with most major championships for Olympic sports, the Olympic Channel will have coverage of the whole of the FINA World championships. From daily highlight, posts to live streams the Olympic channel has you covered.
Ones to Watch
OK so we all have our favourite swimmers who we will be cheering on no matter what but here are my top 5 swimmers to keep an eye out for this world Championships
Adam Peaty
This may be a little obvious and biased considering I was once a breaststroker myself (and I’m British) so I have a soft spot for anyone who competes on this stroke. However, it is well known that the seemingly unstoppable and unbeatable Peaty has been tirelessly working on “project 56”. A goal he set himself way back in 2016 following his world record-breaking gold medal at the Rio Olympics.
After shaving 0.13 off his previous world record last August at the European Championships in Glasgow the current men’s 100m Breastroke world record stands at 57.00. Any new world record would mark Project 56 complete. Will Gwangju be the place?
Sun Yang
The Chinese superstar freestyler has already hit the news prior to the championships but for all the wrong reasons.
Already embroiled in a doping scandal where the swimmer is alleged to have smashed sample bottles in front of doping officials. T
he hearing is set for later in the year and while he could eventually face a life ban when the Court of Arbitration for Sport hears the World Anti-Doping Agency’s appeal against FINA’s decision to clear him, there are many swimmers who believe that he should not be competing at all.
As the first male Chinese swimmer to win Olympic gold and the first man to win the world and Olympic titles from 200 to 1500m freestyle, he has dominated the world stage in recent years.
With the inclusion of 800m Freestyle for men and 1500m Freestyle for women for the first time at a world championship, Sun Yang has an opportunity in Gwangju to cement his name further still in the record books.
Katinka Hosszu
Known as the Iron Lady, the 30-year-old Hungarian swimmer has won the last 3 world titles in the 200 IM and has not lost a major final in the same event since London 2012 Olympics.
However, this time around she will be racing without her husband/coach. Since Rio Hosszu has announced the end of her marriage and coaching relationship with Shane Tusup who was a well-known figure around the swimming world.
Despite this set back it seems that training with new coach Arpad Petrov is going well as she has set the world-leading times this year for both the 200 and 400 IM.
Katie Ledecky
The 22-year-old American is chasing her 4th consecution world titles in the 400, 800 and 1500 freestyle. While she had to settle for silver in the 200 freestyle at the last world champs you can guarantee she will be going all out to hit that wall first.
Known for her relentless work ethic in training she has torn up the record book nationally, internationally and even collegiately during her 2-year NCAA career while at Stanford.
While she seems unstoppable in the longer distance events and is sure to add the new 1500 distance to her medal tally, it is the uncertainty of the 200 Freestyle that will most likely bring the biggest excitement. Will she manage to reign supreme or will another hungry swimmer such as Ariane Titmus or Sarah Sjostrom spoil the party?
4x100 Mixed Medley Relay
Who doesn’t love a good relay?
There’s just something incredibly exciting about team events and even more so when you're involved. Then there are the mixed relays. With the added pressure of picking your best possible team made up of 2 male and 2 female swimmers, it would be easy to get it wrong.
For us mere spectators the mixed medley relay is one of those events that you really don’t know who is going to win until the final few seconds. With each team picking their male-female order slightly differently you are left with positions swapping and changing throughout the race.
For some of the swimmers, it’s a chance for them to pit themselves against the opposite sex in a championship — a feat normally reserved for the training pool.
Either way, stick around for the end of the sessions to experience the thrill of the mixed medley relay for yourself.
