With less than 100 days until the FINA Short Course World Swimming Championships, which are set to kick off on December 16th, in Abu Dhabi, FINA has announced the addition of several new events which will be run alongside the swimming action. The organization has dubbed this new slate of events the “Aquatics Festival,” and it will include diving, high diving, and open water swimming events.
One of the new events will be the High Dive, which will also serve as a qualifier for the 2022 FINA World Championships, which are set to be held in Fukuoka Japan in May of 2022. There will also be a DINA Diving Team Exhibition, which will feature a brand new mixed event. This will be a mixed team event, where male and female divers alternate between 3m springboard and 10m platform.
In new swimming events, FINA has made Abu Dhabi the final stop for the annual FINA/CNSG Marathon Swim World Series. Marathon swimmers competing in the series will take part in a 10km open water race. There will also be an addition of a new mixed relay event for the open water swimmers. For the relay, 2 male and 2 female swimmers will each race 1.5km, for a grand total 6km relay.
FINA president Captain Husain Al-Musallam said of the additions “We are confident this aquatic festival will prove hugely popular with our athletes, the sports fans and the wider UAE community.” Al-Musallam added “With an increased number of top-class athletes from around the world now set to be involved in this multi-sport programme, the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) promises to be the perfect occasion to conclude the sporting year.”
The move comes as a part of a flurry of upbeat announcements by the organization this week as new FINA president Husain al Musallam faces increased scrutiny by the US Justice Department over his possible role in a FIFA bribery scandal.
The announcement of the Aquatics Festival follows FINA’s confirmation of the proposed $2.8 million USD prize money pool for the SC World Swimming Championships. $2.8 million is the largest prize pool ever offered by FINA for a single event. FINA increased the finalists’ payouts by 50%, and is offering a $50,000 bonus for any World Records broken at the meet.
Here is the prize money breakdown for the new Aquatics Festival events, per FINA’s release (in USD):
Open Water
- $15,000
- $12,000
- $10,500
- $9,000
- $7,500
- $6,000
- $4,500
- $3,000
Open Water Mixed Relay Team
- $20,000
- $16,000
- $12,000
High Diving:
- $15,000
- $12,000
- $10,500
- $9,000
- $7,500
- $6,000
- $4,500
- $3,000
- $2,000
- $1,000
- $500 (all finishers beyond 10th place will win $500)
Diving Team:
- $15,000
- $12,000
- $10,500
- $9,000
- $7,500
- $6,000
- $4,500
- $3,000
Additionally, here is the event schedule for the new Aquatics Festival events:
Event Schedule
December 15
- Open Water Swim, Mixed Relay 4 x 1,500m
December 16
- FINA/ CNSG Marathon Swim World Series (10km)
- Opening Ceremony of the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m)
December 16 – 21
- FINA World Swimming Championships (25m)
December 19 – 20
- FINA Diving Exhibition/ Team event
December 19 – 20
- FINA High Diving Qualifier
December 21
- Closing Ceremony of the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m)
Does anyone know how USA Swimming will do qualification for this? Do they just offer slots to Olympians? With ISL and NCAA doesn’t seem like many windows for a trials.
Honestly? SC Worlds has historically been kind of a quiet closed-door process where one day a team of good scm swimmers just pop up.
Don’t expect that to change much.
Okay, then Go Coleman Stewart!
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