Artistic swimming at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships: Preview, schedule, teams to follow and how to watch
The final Olympic quotas will be allocated to teams and duets in Doha as they battle it out for a chance to represent their country in Paris. Who will secure their spots to the Games in France?
Artistic Swimming
Kicking off on Friday, 2 February, the world’s best artistic swimmers will dive into the 2024 FINA World Aquatics Championships in an ultra-high stakes 21st-edition.
The routines, the costumes, the music and all the drama that defines artistic swimming will be on full display in Doha as nations fight for their spots at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
These championships mark the final opportunity for countries to secure their spots, with the top five - excluding the already qualified nations - obtaining a team quota and a shot at Olympic glory. The remaining duet quotas will also be obtained in Doha.
While the five already qualified countries have lower stakes, audiences across the globe can still expect world-class performances as the best of the best fight for a world title and the chance to assert their dominance ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games, which start in less than six months' time.
- As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
- Click here to see the official qualification system for each sport.
Teams to watch at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships
The pressure is on in Olympic year and the FINA World Championships will see the pinnacle of performance from the swimmers as they hone their routines ahead of the XXXIII Olympiad.
The U.S. artistic swimming team narrowly missed the team quota at the 2023 Pan American Games, to Mexico, by just over half a point. USA’s head coach Andrea Fuentes explained that the difference could have been as little as a leg being one inch higher or lower for a single second in one of the three routines.
The team placed second in the acrobatic routine and third in the technical discipline at the 2023 Worlds in Fukuoka, Japan, and qualified a duet for Paris at Pan Ams, but are determined to also send a team to France's capital.
Japan stands out as another powerhouse to watch in Doha, having dominated the 2023 World Championships where they concluded the competition with four golds, one silver and two bronze medals. They are a steady favourite to obtain an Olympic quota at the Aspire Dome.
France, as host country, has already secured the continental quota, making them the only European nation with a confirmed spot in Paris so far. Spain’s strong artistic swimming history keeps them in the mix, having come in just behind Japan at the last world championships.
While Ukraine secured a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Games, their tied ninth-place finish at last year’s Worlds leaves an element of unpredictability.
Italy, Canada and Brazil have consistently impressed in recent years, so the final five quotas could go in any direction.
The competition pool for the final Olympic berths includes Greece, Slovakia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Spain, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Hungary, Italy, Thailand, USA, Chile and Ukraine.
The battle for these spots will be nothing short of intense, as each nation puts everything on the line in hopes of making a splash in Paris.
United States' artistic swimming team competes at the Santiago 2023 Pan Am Games
Schedule of artistic swimming at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships
Find the schedule below, with all times below listed in the local time in Doha, Qatar (EST+8, CET+2)
Friday 2 February
- Women solo technical - preliminaries: 9:30 am
- Men solo technical - preliminaries: 12:00 pm
- Women duet technical - preliminaries: 2:00 pm
Saturday 3 February
- Mixed duet technical - preliminaries: 9:30 am
- Women solo technical - finals: 2:00 pm
- Team acrobatic - preliminaries: 8:00 pm
Sunday 4 February
- Women solo free - preliminaries: 9:30 am
- Team acrobatic - finals: 2:00 pm
- Mixed duet technical - finals: 8:00 pm
Monday 5 February
- Team technical - preliminaries: 9:30 am
- Women duet technical - finals: 2:00 pm
- Men solo technical - finals: 8:00pm
Tuesday 6 February
- Men solo free - preliminaries: 9:30am
- Team technical - finals: 2:00 pm
- Women solo free - finals: 8:00 pm
Wednesday 7 February
- Women duet free - preliminaries: 9:30 am
- Men solo free - finals: 8:00 pm
Thursday 8 February
- Team free - preliminaries: 9:30 am
- Women duet free - finals: 2:00 pm
Friday 9 February
- Mixed duet free - preliminaries: 9:30am
- Team free - finals: 2:00pm
Saturday 10 February
- Mixed duet free - finals: 9:30am
How to watch artistic swimming at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships
The preliminary events can be streamed anywhere in the world on the World Aquatics Channel on Recast with finals being broadcast on Peacock.
NBC Sports will also broadcast all final events to the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands, and CBC will broadcast to Canada.