FINA 25 metre World Swimming Championships come to a close in Abu Dhabi

Six days of swimming competition come to a close today in Abu Dhabi with the staging of the final day of the 15th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m).

Being held at Abu Dhabi’s multi-purpose Etihad Arena from 16th to 21st December 2021, the event has featured the world’s best short course swimmers along with an aquatics festival featuring open water swimming and diving events staged by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council (ADSC).

Abu Dhabi’s first hosting of a FINA event, the Championships have consisted of 44 different swimming events featuring men’s and women’s events in all four strokes - freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, and butterfly - along with the individual medley and relays.

The event has seen world records broken along with the unfortunate withdrawal of some competing nations and athletes.

FINA advised as the Championships started that any athlete who tested positive for COVID-19 would not be able to compete due to rules set out by the United Arab Emirate’s Department of Health.

The emergence of the Omicron Coronavirus variant has caused global concern, with countries implementing further travel restrictions.

Speaking last Wednesday (15th December), FINA President Husain Al-Musallam revealed that seven nations had withdrawn due to the impact of Omicron.

However, Al-Musallam expressed his "full confidence" in the countermeasures put in place in Abu Dhabi and spoke of his pride in the participation of more than 1,000 athletes from 183 nations.

Abu Dhabi was originally scheduled to stage the event last year only for it to be postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Championships have been hosted in parallel with the FINA World Aquatics Convention also taking place on Yas Island.

Image: The competition pool - supplied and constructed by Myrtha Pools used for the 15th FINA World Swimming Championships. Credit: Myrtha Pools.