Dates of competition: July 19-July 25
Venue: Ostia Beach
Capacity: 600 seats
Medal favourites: Men – Thomas Lurz (GER), Russia’s team, Petar Stoychev (BUL), USA team, Mohamed El Zanaty (EGY), Valerio Cleri (ITA), David Davies (GBR), Australia’s team; Women – Larisa Ilchenko (RUS) and all Russia’s team, Great Britain’s team, Poliana Okimoto (BRA), Britta Kamrau-Corestein and all Germany’s team, Esther Nunez Morera (ESP).

•    Open Water Swimming made its entry onto the programme of the FINA World Championships in 1991. In Perth (AUS), only the men’s and women’s 25km were held, with the first world gold medals in this discipline going to Chad Hundeby (USA) among men, and Shelley Taylor-Smith (AUS) in the women’s field;

•    Over the years, there was significant evolution in the programme of open water events at the World Championships: in Rome 1994, the same event (25km) for men and women was contested, while in 1998 (Perth) a 5km race also for men and women was added to the programme. Finally, from 2001 (Fukuoka), the schedule of events was definitively established, with three races for men and women: 5km, 10km and 25km;

•    In 2000, the first edition of the FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships was launched - in Honolulu (Hawaii, USA) – and has since then taken place every other year of the traditional FINA World Championships (with the five aquatic disciplines). Consecutive editions of the FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships were organised in Honolulu (2000), Sharm El Sheikh (EGY, 2002), Dubai (UAE, 2004), Naples (ITA, 2006) and Seville (ESP, 2008);

•    The IOC recognised the importance of the open water swimming activities worldwide by including a marathon swimming race (10km) for men and women on the programme of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing (CHN). The same event was confirmed for the Games of 2012 in London (GBR);

•    The Olympic status (announced by the International Olympic Committee in October 2005) led to an increase in the participation figures at the FINA World Championships: in 2007, in Melbourne, the record was established for the open water swimming events, with 128 athletes from 43 nations taking part in the competition;

•    Larisa Ilchenko (RUS) is definitively the athlete to follow in Rome. The Russian champion has an impressive roll of honour at FINA World Championships: she won five consecutive titles in 5km (2004-2008) and was also first in the 10km in 2006, 2007 and 2008. She is the most “golden” athlete of the championships, with eight titles! By the way, she was also the Olympic champion of the first marathon swimming race in the history of the Games in 2008;

•    The highest number of medals in World Championships was obtained by Edith van Dijk (NED), with 15 appearances on the podium. Van Dijk’s career is awesome, as she started collecting medals at the 1998 edition in Perth (silver in the 10km), and obtained her 15th award (silver in the 25km) ten years later, at the 2008 FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships in Seville (ESP). In total, she has accumulated six gold, five silver and four bronze medals!


•    In the women’s overall medal table, Russia is largely dominant, with a total of 19 medals (nine gold, five silver and five bronze);

•    In the men’s events, Thomas Lurz (GER) has been dominating the shorter distances in the latest editions of the championships, with four consecutive wins (2005-2008) and one bronze (2002) in the 5km, and two gold medals in the 10km in 2004 and 2006. In 2005 and 2007, he was second in this event, while in 2008 he got the bronze. With his 10 medals, he is the most awarded swimmer in the history of the World Championships;

•    In the longest race of the programme (25km), Yuri Kudinov (RUS) confirms Russia’s strength in this discipline: he was world champion in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2007, won the silver in 2004 and 2006, and was third in 2008. Many of his compatriots have also left their mark in the history of the World Championships: Evgeny Bezroutchenko (two gold medals), Evgeny Koshkarov (two titles), Vladimir Dyatchin (three victories) and Alexey Akatiev (two triumphs);

•    Since 2006, some new countries have made their entry in the roll of honour of the World Championships: 2007 (Melbourne) saw the first medals (both for men and women) for Egypt (Mohamed El Zanaty, bronze in the men’s 25km) and Greece (Spyridon Gianniotis, bronze in the men’s 5km), while in 2008 (Seville) Maarten van der Weijden (NED, gold in the 25km) gave his country’s the first male medal at world level. Van der Weijden confirmed that success at the Olympic Games in Beijing (CHN), taking the gold in the inaugural 10km marathon swimming race. In the women’s field, Great Britain (through Cassandra Patten, silver medallist in the 10km) medalled for the first time in 2007, while Spain (Yurema Requena, bronze in the 10km) had its first award in 2008. The British success among women was also confirmed at the 2008 Olympics, with the silver going to Keri-Anne Payne and the bronze to Cassandra Patten;

•    Italy’s last “golden” successes were obtained by Viola Valli (five world titles among women between 2001 and 2003) and by Luca Baldini (two gold in the men’s field in 2001 and 2002);

•    Viola Valli (ITA) is the only athlete in the history of the World Championships to have won at least one gold medal in each of the three events of the programme. She had three 5km titles in 2001, 2002 and 2003, the gold in the 10km in 2003 and the victory in the 25km in 2001. This also implies that there was never an athlete capable of winning the three races in a single edition of the championships.

WORLD CHAMPIONS 1991-2008

Men
5km
1998    Alexey Akatiev (RUS)
2000    Evgeny Bezroutchenko (RUS)
2001    Luca Baldini (ITA)
2002    Luca Baldini (ITA)
2003    Evgeny Koshkarov (RUS)
2004    Grant Cleland (AUS)
2005    Thomas Lurz (GER)
2006    Thomas Lurz (GER)
2007    Thomas Lurz (GER)
2008    Thomas Lurz (GER)

10km
2000    David Meca (ESP)
2001    Evgeny Bezroutchenko (RUS)
2002    Evgeny Koshkarov (RUS)
2003    Vladimir Dyatchin (RUS)
2004    Thomas Lurz (GER)
2005    Charles Peterson (USA)
2006    Thomas Lurz (GER)
2007    Vladimir Dyatchin (RUS)
2008    Vladimir Dyatchin (RUS)

25km
1991    Chad Hundeby (USA)
1994    Greg Streppel (CAN)
1998    Alexey Akatiev (RUS)
2000    Yuri Kudinov (RUS)
2001    Yuri Kudinov (RUS)
2002    Yuri Kudinov (RUS)
2003    Yuri Kudinov (RUS)
2004    Brendan Capell (AUS)
2005    David Meca (ESP)
2006    Josh Santacaterina (AUS)
2007    Yuri Kudinov (RUS)
2008    Maarten van der Weijden (NED)

Women
5km
1998    Erica Rose (USA)
2000    Peggy Büchse (GER)
2001    Viola Valli (ITA)
2002    Viola Valli (ITA)
2003    Viola Valli (ITA)
2004    Larisa Ilchenko (RUS)
2005    Larisa Ilchenko (RUS)
2006    Larisa Ilchenko (RUS)
2007    Larisa Ilchenko (RUS)
2008    Larisa Ilchenko (RUS)

10km
2000    Edith van Dijk (NED)
2001    Peggy Büchse (GER)
2002    Britta Kamrau (GER)
2003    Viola Valli (ITA)
2004    Britta Kamrau (GER)
2005    Edith van Dijk (NED)
2006    Larisa Ilchenko (RUS)
2007    Larisa Ilchenko (RUS)
2008    Larisa Ilchenko (RUS)

25km
1991    Shelley Taylor-Smith (AUS)
1994    Melissa Cunningham (AUS)
1998    Tobbie Smith (USA)
2000    Edith van Dijk (NED)
2001    Viola Valli (ITA)
2002    Edith van Dijk (NED)
2003    Edith van Dijk (NED)
2004    Britta Kamrau (GER)
2005    Edith van Dijk (NED)
2006    Angela Maurer (GER)
2007    Britta Kamrau-Corestein (GER)
2008    Ksenia Popova (RUS)