The FINA/airweave Swimming World Cup 2016 kicks-off on Friday August 26, with the first leg of the nine-meet circuit being hosted by the French Swimming Federation in Paris-Chartres (FRA).

Among the stars taking part in the 25m-pool event this weekend are: Last year's overall Swimming World Cup winners Katinka Hosszu (HUN) and Cameron Van der Burgh (RSA), Rio 2016 bronze medallist Chad Le Clos (RSA), two-time silver medallist in Rio Madeline Groves of Australia and North American Breeja Larson.

Other athletes to watch are Jamaica's Alia Atkinson and home favourites Camille Lacourt and Jeremy Stravius / Fabien Gilot who were part of the team claiming silver in 4x100 FREE at Rio 2016.

L'Odyssée Swimming Pool will welcome around 115 (71 men, 44 women) swimmers, representing 28 NFs to compete over 32 events.

The FINA/airweave Swimming World Cup 2016 includes nine legs distributed in three clusters, according to the following schedule:

2016 FINA/airweave Swimming World Cup Calendar:

Cluster 1:
Paris-Chartres (FRA) - August 26-27
Berlin (GER) - August 30-31
Moscow (RUS) - September 3-4

Cluster 2:
Beijing (CHN) - September 30-October 1
Dubai (UAE) - October 4-5
Doha (QAT) - October 8-9

Cluster 3:
Singapore (SIN) - October 21-22
Tokyo (JPN) - October 25-26
Hong Kong (HKG) - October 29-30

In order to reward the best athletes and performances, a total Prize Money per Cluster of US$ 300,000 will be distributed. In addition, various bonuses for establishment of World Records and milestones will be awarded. See details in the Rules & Regulations 2016

The FINA/airweave Swimming World Cup 2016 will be live streamed, free of charge, on FINATv and live info feed for the finals at each meet will be available.