Breakdown: How Many Countries Have Medaled at the World Championships? (2001-2025)
After eight days of pool competition at the World Championships in Singapore, 22 nations were represented on the podium. That figure falls in line with what we’ve seen since the meet expanded to include the 50-meter stroke events in 2001, which also marked the addition of the men’s 800 freestyle and women’s 1500 freestyle.
Of the 14 editions of the World Championships held since 2001, 11 of the meets have featured between 19 and 23 medal-winning countries. Only 2003 (24), 2009 (25) and 2024 (30) have witnessed totals outside of that range, and two of those competitions were anomalies. The 2009 meet in Rome was held at the height of the super-suit era, where technology outweighed pure athletic talent and, therefore, does not allow for a straightforward comparison.
Meanwhile, the 2024 edition in Doha was missing many of the elite names in the sport, since athletes and coaches did not want to compromise their preparation for that summer’s Olympic Games in Paris. Due to the absence of numerous leading contenders, the door was opened to a greater variance of podium finishers.
Through the years, there has been consistency when it comes to the number of nations who place at least one athlete on the podium. While the United States and Australia are found at the top of the medals table, China has regularly been near the top. With the strength of those nations, minimal medals slots are available, and it’s always interesting to see which countries crack the establishment and secure a top-three performance.
The chart below shows the number of countries that have won at least one medal at the World Championships since the 2001 edition in Fukuoka.
Overall, the number of countries who have medaled at least once at the World Champs since 2001 is 50. Here is an alphabetical list of those nations:
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil
Canada
China
Costa Rica
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Egypt
Finland
France
Germany
Great Britain
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Jamaica
Japan
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Kyrgyzstan
Lithuania
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Serbia
Singapore
Slovakia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Trinidad & Tobago
Tunisia
Ukraine
United States
Venezuela
Zimbabwe
