Welcome to 2019: Para swimming

The competition pool hots up with an action-packed year in 2019 that includes the World Championships. But before nearly 600 swimmers from 70 countries head to Kuching, Malaysia from 29 July – 4 August they will hit up the World Series competitions.

The third season of the World Series will be the largest to date, taking place in seven countries across four continents from February to June. The competition will bring together the world’s best swimmers in some of the biggest and most traditional Para swimming events on the planet.

Australia and Singapore are the two countries making their debut as World Series hosts. The 2019 edition will kick off in Melbourne, Australia on 15 February. Berlin, Germany; Indianapolis, USA; and Sao Paulo, Brazil are the three cities which have been part of the competition calendar.

Brazil’s Daniel Dias won the men’s individual World Series title in the first two editions. Great Britain’s Louise Fiddes topped the women’s standings in 2018 following Italian Monica Boggioni’s win in 2017.

The Series will also serve as a warm up heading into Kuching 2019, which will be the ninth edition of the Worlds and first one to be held in Asia.

The last World Championships were staged in Mexico City two years ago.

At Mexico City 2017, then 16-year-old Italian sensation Carlotta Gilli broke through. At her first World Championships, she won five golds and one silver, while setting a world record in the women’s 100m butterfly S12-13.

The 2017 Worlds also saw Mohammad Abas Karimi, representing the Independent Paralympic Athletes Team, winning silver in the men’s 50m butterfly S5. He became the first refugee swimmer to win a World Championships medal.

The Americas’ top swimmers will then head to Lima, Peru, for the 2019 Parapan American Games, where they will be part of a record 1,850 athletes competing across 17 sports from 23 August – 1 September.