World Championships Stats and Facts

World Championships Stats and Facts: From Debut in Belgrade to Phelps’ Fistful of Medals

When did the World Championships launch? How many cities have been a multi-time host? Who is the all-time medals leader? Here are some facts and stats about World Aquatics’ premier event, which is in its 22^nd edition.

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• The first World Championships was held in 1973, with Belgrade serving as the host. Forty-seven nations competed in the inaugural competition, with the United States (men) and East Germany (women) topping the medals table.
• Perth (1991/1998), Rome (1994/2009), Fukuoka (2001/2023), Barcelona (2003/2013) and Budapest (2017/2022) have each served as host on two occasions. Budapest will become the first three-time host when it welcomes the aquatics world in 2027.
• Michael Phelps isn’t just the most-decorated Olympian in history, thanks to 23 gold medals and 28 overall medals. The American is also the most successful athlete in World Champs history, with 33 medals, including 26 of the golden variety.
• The World Championships first introduced the 50-meter stroke events in 2001, the same year the event moved to a biennial schedule. The Olympic Games will contest 50-meter stroke events for the first time in Los Angeles in 2028.
• The most consecutive world titles won by an athlete is six, by Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom and the United States’ Katie Ledecky. Sjostrom has won every 50 butterfly since 2015, but that streak will end this year as the Swede is pregnant with her first child and taking the year off. As for Ledecky, she won the 800 freestyle from 2013-2023, but that streak ended when Ledecky did not race at the 2024 World Champs in Doha.
• Fifty-seven nations have placed an athlete on the podium at the World Champs. The United States leads the way with 254 gold medals among the 609 overall medals it has won.
• Katie Ledecky has the most individual gold medals in World Championships history with 16. That breakdown of that total is: 200 freestyle (one); 400 freestyle (four); 800 freestyle (six); 1500 freestyle (five).
• Only once in history has the World Championships not produced a world record. That year was 1998, when the meet was held in Perth.
• Mixed relays (400 freestyle/400 medley) were added to the World Champs program in 2015. Only the mixed medley relay is part of the Olympic schedule.
• Australian Ian Thorpe is the youngest male to claim a world title. Thorpe was 15 years, 3 months when he won the 400 freestyle at the 1998 competition in Perth.