Official website of 16th FINA World Championships 2015 in Kazan
16th FINA World Championships

July 24 - August 9, 2015
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Fina - FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DENATATION

Open water swimming

7
Number of medal events: 7

events

Men’s events
Women’s events
  • 5km, 10km, 25km
  • 5km, 10km, 25km
  • Team event

Format of competition

Water sport that involves covering a distance in outdoor bodies of water. Its programme includes the team’s 5km and men’s and women’s 5km, 10km and 25km races. The competition runs for eight days (five of them are completion days and three are days off).

See the schedule  
Index_501____251______________01-1
Competition venue: Kazanka Venue
Kazanka River embankment and water area near the Kazan Kremlin, Kazan
  • Equipment:starting block, feeding station, judge boats
  • Gear:swimwear, goggles, cap

Interesting fact

Open water swimming demands navigation skills that are not required in swimming pools which have lanes and markings on the bottom

Pool swimming skills are of no use in open water swimming where there are no flip turns

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History

Individual open water swimming and marathon swimming events were first held in the late 19th century. The most well-known of them are probably crossings of the English Channel. In 1875, Englishman Matthew Webb became the first person to swim across the English Channel (21 hours 45 minutes). In 1991, open water swimming was included in the FINA World Championships programme, and since 2000, stand-alone world open water swimming championships are held in even-numbered years: 5km (since 1998), 10km (since 2000), 25km (since 1991). In 2008, the 10km event was added to the Olympic schedule. 

Russia

Among all competitive swimming events, this tournament is the youngest one. The first national championship was held in Sochi in 1995. The list of Russia’s most famous open water swimmers includes:

Larisa Ilchenko, Olympic champion, five-time world open water swimming champion, World Open Water Championships silver medallist, winner of World Cup legs, the world’s best female open water swimmer (2006, 2007, 2008);

Vladimir Dyatchin, two-time world champion, two-time World Championships silver medallist, two-time World Championships bronze medallist, European champion, winner of the Open Water Swimming World Cup legs;

Evgeny Dratsev, three-time World Championships silver medallist, four-time World Championships bronze medallist, three-time European Championships silver medallist, two-time European Championships bronze medallist. 

Tatarstan

The first Tatarstan Open Water Swimming Championship was held on June 14, 2013 at the Rowing Centre, Kazan as part of the preparations for the 27th Summer Universiade.