World Aquatics is seeking hosts for major artistic swimming competitions from 2027 to 2030.
World Aquatics has opened the bidding process to host a series of international artistic swimming competitions in the period from 2027 to 2030. According to the official announcement by the global governing body for aquatic sports, the tender covers stops of the Artistic Swimming World Cup from 2027 to 2030, as well as age-group world championships from 2028 to 2030. These are events that are important both for elite national teams and for younger age groups because they connect the competition calendar, the development of the sport, the visibility of host cities and the preparation of athletes for the biggest international competitions.
According to World Aquatics, the process was launched in the week that began on May 4, 2026, and interested parties must first submit an expression of interest form and sign a confidentiality agreement. The organization states that the deadline for these two initial documents is May 15, 2026. After that, potential hosts receive detailed documentation, including the bid guide, a draft hosting agreement and the application questionnaire. The final phase of the bidding process, according to the official schedule, closes on July 3, 2026, when the deadline expires for submitting final offers and signed hosting agreements.
The tender covers the World Cup and younger age-category championships
According to World Aquatics, the open call relates to two levels of competition. The first are stops of the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup, a series that brings together the world’s best national teams and individuals in artistic swimming. The second are world championships for younger age categories, namely junior and youth competitions that have growing importance in the sport development system. Such competitions bring international visibility to host cities, but also operationally demanding organization because they involve athletes, coaches, judges, technical staff, delegations of national federations, media and support services.
In its announcement, World Aquatics states that the formal bidding phase requires applicants to prove technical capability, financial capacity and operational readiness. This means that potential hosts must show that they have an appropriate pool complex, an expert team, accommodation capacities, transport solutions, security plans, media infrastructure and the ability to stage competitions according to international standards. The organization also envisages the possibility of including a shortlist of candidates in an observer programme. According to World Aquatics, that programme should allow candidates direct insight into the operation of World Cup competitions and conversations with the staff who run event operations.
The tender has been opened at a time when artistic swimming is in a phase of expanding its competition calendar and increasing global visibility. World Aquatics states that the 2026 World Cup season is under way and that the series is being held in its 32nd edition, counting the historical continuity of earlier competition formats. The organization also recalls that today’s World Cup was known from 2017 to 2022 as the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series, while earlier global formats included the Synchro World Trophy and the Synchronised Swimming World Cup. That history is important for understanding the value of hosting because it shows that the competition has developed together with changes in the sport, terminology, rules and international presentation of the discipline.
Deadlines are short, and candidates are required to provide a comprehensive plan
The first step for interested cities, federations or organizing committees is the submission of an expression of interest and a confidentiality agreement by May 15, 2026. After that, according to the World Aquatics announcement, candidates receive a more extensive package of documents containing operational requirements and hosting guidelines. At that stage, applicants are expected to develop the organizational model, financial structure, technical conditions and local support. The final deadline for formal bids is set for July 3, 2026, by which World Aquatics wants to give all candidates equal preparation time and ensure that it has comparable documentation before the final selection.
Such a schedule shows that the process is being conducted quickly, but in several clearly separate steps. The original call from the international organization is aimed at hosts from 2027 onward, which leaves a relatively short window for the first events in the new cycle. Cities that want to organize a competition will have to prove, according to the criteria stated in the announcement, that they already have a large part of the infrastructure or that they can reliably complete the necessary preparations. For aquatic sports competitions, this is especially important because the conditions for pools, training areas, lighting, technical equipment and television production are strictly defined.
World Aquatics also emphasizes the commercial dimension of hosting in the call. The organization states that potential benefits for hosts can be linked to domestic sponsorships, hotel arrangements, state or local support, ticket sales, hospitality, tourism packages and VIP offers. In addition, hosts may use linear television rights in their territory, which according to World Aquatics can increase the local media value of the event. The organization also points out that it supports competitions with global communication aimed at a digital audience of more than eight million followers on its own social channels.
Artistic swimming is an increasingly broad international market
The Artistic Swimming World Cup has gained a more extensive global schedule in recent years. For the 2026 season, World Aquatics announced five stops on four continents: Medellin, Paris, Xi’an, Pontevedra and the final in Toronto. According to that announcement, the 2026 season began in February in Colombia, continued in France and China, then moves to Spain and ends with the Super Final in Canada. Such a calendar shows that World Aquatics is trying to distribute competitions beyond traditional European centers and include markets that can bring a new audience, new partners and greater regional recognition of the sport.
The Colombian example is particularly highlighted in World Aquatics communications. The organization states that Medellin in 2026 hosted a stop of the Artistic Swimming World Cup for the first time, and the president of the Colombian Aquatic Sports Federation, Jorge Enrique Soto Roldán, said in the official announcement that hosting brought visible social and community benefits. According to him, the event generated pride in the city and among athletes, while the audience filled the renovated aquatic center. World Aquatics also reported the assessment of Colombian national team member Gustavo Sanchez, named the organization’s best male artistic swimmer for 2024, that holding the World Cup in Colombia was a dream come true for him and many other athletes.
Paris, Xi’an, Pontevedra and Toronto show the other side of the same process: a combination of major sporting traditions, modern infrastructure and the desire to strengthen the local fan base. World Aquatics states that Paris continues to use the legacy of the 2024 Olympic Games, while China’s Xi’an confirms the growth of artistic swimming in a country that has achieved major results in recent years at world and Olympic competitions. Pontevedra fits into Spain’s strong tradition in this sport, and Toronto relies on Canadian experience in organizing international aquatic sports competitions. In the context of the new tender, such examples serve as an indication of the profile of cities World Aquatics wants to attract.
Age-group championships have a developmental and promotional role
A special part of the call relates to junior and younger age-group championships. World Aquatics states that the Junior World Artistic Swimming Championships is a biennial competition for female athletes aged 15 to 19 and male athletes aged 15 to 20. The eighth edition of that competition should, according to the official announcement, be held in Budapest in August 2026. The younger, or youth, championship is also held every two years, but in alternating years, and is intended for female athletes aged 13 to 15 and male athletes aged 13 to 16.
According to World Aquatics, the most recent youth championship was held in 2025 in Athens and was the fourth edition of that competition. In the current announcement, the organization also conveys a statement by Kyriakos Giannopoulos, president of the Hellenic Swimming Federation, Olympian and member of the World Aquatics Bureau, who described hosting in Athens as an opportunity to present the future stars of the sport on the global stage. According to the announcement, Giannopoulos also emphasized that numerous moments from the championship had a strong impact on social media, which helped promote the competition and the host city.
For young athletes, such events have double value. On the one hand, they are official world competitions that can determine the early direction of an international career. On the other hand, they create networks between athletes, coaches, judges and national federations and enable young competitors to become accustomed to the standards of major events. For hosts, younger age-category championships are often also an opportunity to involve local clubs, swimming schools, volunteers and the wider sports community. That is precisely why World Aquatics emphasizes in the call not only the economic, but also the social value of hosting.
Budapest 2027 remains an important point of reference
The tender for events from 2027 to 2030 is taking place ahead of a new cycle of major aquatic sports competitions. World Aquatics previously announced that the 2027 World Aquatics Championships will be held in Budapest from June 26 to July 18, 2027. According to the official schedule, artistic swimming at that championship will be held from July 10 to 17. The organization states that more than 2,500 athletes from more than 200 countries are expected, and the competitions will cover six aquatic sports.
In the World Aquatics announcement, Budapest is presented as a city with rich experience in organizing aquatic sports. According to data cited by the organization, Hungary has hosted 32 events under the auspices of World Aquatics since 1995, including the world championships in 2017 and 2022, the Masters Championship in 2017 and the 2024 World Short Course Championships. These experiences are also important for potential artistic swimming hosts because they show what organizational standard is expected at events carrying the World Aquatics brand.
World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam said in the announcement on the schedule for Budapest 2027 that the confirmation of the dates represents an important milestone for athletes, organizers and fans. According to him, Budapest has a proven history of organizing exceptional aquatic sports competitions, and the 2027 championship should offer a strong competitive environment for athletes at different stages of their careers. In a broader sense, the current call for artistic swimming hosts continues the same logic: World Aquatics wants to define a stable international calendar in advance and ensure that competitions are distributed among hosts that can meet high organizational criteria.
Hosting as a sporting, economic and reputational project
For cities that decide to bid, hosting an artistic swimming competition is not only a sporting event. According to World Aquatics, it can contribute to the city’s international profile, stimulate the local economy and open space for the promotion of tourism, infrastructure and sports programmes. In practice, this means that a bid usually includes several levels of government, the national federation, managers of sports facilities, tourism organizations, the hotel sector, security services and media partners. A successful application must connect these actors into a feasible plan that is financially sustainable and aligned with the technical requirements of the international federation.
Artistic swimming has a specific promotional advantage because it combines sporting performance, technical precision, music, choreography and visual attractiveness. For that reason, competitions often have a strong effect on digital platforms, especially when original routines, team formations and performances by younger age categories stand out. World Aquatics sees additional value for hosts precisely in this segment, citing the reach of its communication channels and branding opportunities in the venue. At the same time, however, the organization requires candidates to show seriousness in technical preparation, because the quality of the competition depends on a large number of details that are not always visible to the audience.
The new tender therefore opens a multi-year race for hosting rights that could shape the artistic swimming calendar after 2026. According to the available information, final decisions on hosts will be made after the end of the bidding process and the evaluation of applications. Until then, interested organizers will have to prove that they can offer reliable infrastructure, financial security and an event that corresponds to the sporting, media and developmental goals of World Aquatics.
Sources:
- World Aquatics – official announcement on the opening of bids to host the Artistic Swimming World Cup and age-group championships from 2027 to 2030 (link)
- World Aquatics – announcement of the schedule and hosts of the Artistic Swimming World Cup for 2026 and the context of the series’ development (link)
- World Aquatics – official schedule of the World Aquatics Championships and Masters Championships in Budapest 2027 (link)
- Inside the Games – news about the opening of the process to search for hosts of artistic swimming competitions (link)
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