The 2007 World Aquatics Championships, or the XII FINA World Championships, were held in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia from 17 March to 1 April 2007. The competition took place at three locations in central Melbourne: the

Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre Melbourne Sports Centres - MSAC is an international sporting venue located in Albert Park, Victoria, Australia. The centre was opened on 24 July 1997 at a construction cost of A$65 million. The cost was funded by the State Government of Victor ...

(diving and water polo), St Kilda Beach (open water), and

Rod Laver Arena Rod Laver Arena is a multipurpose arena located within Melbourne Park, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The arena is the main venue for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the calendar year. History Replacing ...

in a temporary pool christened the Susie O'Neill Pool (synchro and swimming). A total of 2,158 athletes from 167 nations participated in the 2007 championships. The total number of spectators was more than 215,000, setting a new record attendance for the event.

FINA FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

President

Mustapha Larfaoui Mustapha Larfaoui (born 27 November 1932 in Algiers) is a former member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from Algeria.

described the competition as "the biggest and best in history."

Medals table

At the end of the competition, the medals table contained an entry for

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, with one gold and one silver medal, both won by

Oussama Mellouli Oussama "Ous" Mellouli ( ar, أسامة الملولي; born 16 February 1984) is a Tunisian swimmer who competes in the freestyle and medley events. He is a three-time Olympic medalist, is an African record holder, and trains with the USC Tr ...

. However, on 11 September 2007, the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its c ...

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

, Switzerland vacated these results imposing an 18-month competition ban on Mellouli, effective retroactively to 30 October 2006 for doping with amphetamine.

Competition

Swimming

The Swimming competition comprised various events using all four strokes (Freestyle, Butterfly, Breaststroke and Backstroke) for men and women ranging in distance from 50 m up to 1500 m. A total of 40 gold medals were available for the Championships. The swimming schedule took place over eight days during the second week of the Championships. The Swimming events were held at the 15,000-seat

using a temporary pool.

Open water swimming

The open water swimming competition saw men and women competing in events over 5 km, 10 km and 25 km distances. Events were held at St Kilda Beach.

Synchronised swimming

The synchronised swimming competition featured a solo, a duet, and a team competition. There was also a combination routine, consisting of a mixture of the solo, duet and team routine. Events were held at the 15,000-seat Rod Laver Arena using a temporary pool.

Diving

The diving competition saw athletes competing for 10 gold medals. Athletes contested the 1 m and 3 m Springboard events, as well as the 10 m Platform as individuals. There were 3 m and 10 m synchronised events for men and women competing as a team. Events were held at the indoor diving pool at the

Water polo

The water polo competition featured 16 men's teams and 16 women's teams. For each of the two tournaments, a round robin competition took place in four divisions, each with four teams, with the two highest placed teams moving through the medal rounds. The water polo tournaments were held at the 9,000-seat outdoor pool at the

, which was constructed for the 2006 Commonwealth Games swimming competition. The water polo competition also served as the qualifying tournament for the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

Bidding process

Melbourne was awarded the right to host the 12th FINA World Swimming Championships by the FINA Bureau in Barcelona, Spain on 12 July 2003. Melbourne's bid defeated the bid by Dubai, UAE by a vote of 15 to 6.

References

External links

* Official FINA results
SwimmingOpen waterSynchronised swimmingDivingWater polo
* Results (from Omega Timing)
SwimmingOpen waterSynchronised swimmingDivingWater polo
* Swim Ranking
results

{{fina world champs FINA World Aquatics Championships

World Aquatics Championships The FINA World Championships or World Aquatics Championships are the World Championships for aquatics sports: swimming, diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water polo. They are run by FINA, and all swimming events ...

Sports competitions in Melbourne A