In the sporting world, aquatic sports offer bettors multiple betting opportunities across a whole range of sporting events. In terms of competitions, the biggest and the most prestigious is the FINA World Championships. The tournament is hosted by FINA also known as the International Swimming Federation. The first World Championships were held in 1973 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Countries from all over the world participated in the inaugural World Champs with the USA topping the medals table followed by East Germany and Italy.
In 1978, the decision was made to hold the FINA World Championships every four years. This continued until 1998. In 2001, the Championships reverted back to a two-year cycle and take place on every odd year. In 2015, the tournament was held in Kazan, Russia. At the end of the competition, China topped the medals table followed by the USA then Russia. The next World Champs are scheduled to be held in Budapest, Hungary in July 2017.
Aquatic Sporting Events
The FINA World Championships consist of multiple disciplines with both men and woman competing in every event. These events include:
- Diving – Diving is an aquatic sport where athletes dive from an elevated platform into the water while executing specific movements on the way down. In diving, both men and woman compete in the 1m springboard, the 3m springboard and the 10m springboard. Diving also includes synchronised two-person diving from both the 3m and the 10m platform.
- High Diving – High diving in the FINA World Championships is similar to diving except that it is done from a much higher platform. In this event men dive from 27 meters and woman from 20 meters.
- Open Water Swimming – Open water swimming is a standard swimming race across a long distance in open water. In this discipline athletes compete for the fastest time in the 5km event, the 10km event and the 25km event.
- Swimming – Swimming is the most popular of all the aquatic events at the FINA World Championships. Swimming races are conducted over a distance of 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m. Conducted in a 50m swimming pool each distance includes the four main swimming strokes.
- Synchronized swimming – In synchronised swimming, athletes compete in an artistic routine where points are given for accuracy, interpretation and synchronisation. This discipline is done solo, in mixed pairs and in teams.
- Water Polo – Water polo is a high energy aquatic ball game where the object is to score goes into the other team’s net. Each team has scorers and defenders similar to land based ball games. In the FINA World Championships, there is a men’s event and a woman’s event.
World Champs Betting Options
The World Championships offer ample betting opportunities for both novice and experienced sports bettors at online betting sites. In each discipline, bettors can place bets on the outright winner of an event or a team such as water polo. Bettors can also place bets on which individual or team will be in the finals. The most commonly placed bet at the world champs is the overall medal winner’s standings. This involves placing a bet on a specific country that will top the medals tables.
