Szeged among hosting cities for World Aquatics Championships 2022

Image: Jonathan Borba / Unsplash

After 2017, the FINA World Aquatics Championships is coming back to Hungary this year, between June 18 and July 3.

The event is officially called Budapest 2022, but three other Hungarian cities - Debrecen, Szeged, and Sopron - will also be hosting some of the competitions.

In Szeged, water polo matches will be held in the new Tiszavirág sports pool facility. The city of Szeged was not only chosen because of its modern sports pool but also because of its good location and numerous accommodation possibilities. Furthermore, Szeged has extensive experience in hosting international sporting events.

Budapest 2022 will feature five - out of the six - aquatics disciplines: Swimming, Diving, Water Polo, Open Water and Artistic Swimming. Official schedules will be announced soon.

The World Aquatics Championships was postponed from 2021 to 2022. The original host, Fukuoka (Japan) asked FINA to postpone the event once again, due to the COVID-19 situation. As a result, Budapest got the chance to take over the 2022 World Championships hosting, while Fukuoka will organize the event in 2023.

According to the International Swimming Federation's recent press statement, the Qualification Procedure for the 19th FINA World Championships Budapest 2022 will adopt the already established pathway for Fukuoka 2022, with an extended deadline of May 15, 2022. All FINA-approved qualifying events for Fukuoka 2022 are automatically considered as the qualifying events for the 19th FINA World Championships.

Overall prize pool of USD 5,720,000 will be the highest award amount ever for a FINA World Championships.

Source: FINA, MTI