Swimming records expected to tumble at World Aquatics C’ships arena in Singapore

SINGAPORE – Fans can expect record-breaking feats at the July 11-Aug 3 World Aquatics Championships (WCH) in Singapore, as the event organisers gave the media a first look and back-of-house tour of the WCH Arena on June 16.

Built in Carpark G near the Kallang Tennis and Kallang Football Hubs, the main attraction of the sheltered, purpose-built facility constructed by Kin Productions is the long-course pool which will host the swimming (July 27-Aug 3) and artistic swimming (July 18-25) events. A warm-up pool with the same dimensions is located in a separate block.

Measuring 50m by 26m with a depth of three metres, the competition pool is notably wider and deeper than the Paris Olympics’ temporary pool at the La Defense Arena, which was also built by Italian contractor Myrtha Pools but was one metre narrower and 2.15m deep.

At Paris 2024, there were four world records and 17 Olympic records. There is a realistic prospect of more record-breaking feats here, as swimmers tend to prefer a deeper pool because the increased depth reduces water turbulence and calmer waters generally result in faster times.

Mark Chay, co-chairperson of the WCH Singapore 2025 organising committee, told The Straits Times: “The pool is built to be fast. Each athlete has more space in each lane that helps with the stability of the water and less turbulence. The Malmsten lane ropes also help with preventing the wake of the waves from interfering with the speed of other athletes.

“The 3m pool means that athletes can go deeper to propel themselves faster, especially while underwater. With favourable conditions and world-class athletes, we hope to see more world records at the world championships here.”

Foundation work for the WCH Arena began in December 2024, and construction was carried out from January to May.

Noting the challenges posed by the short timeline and rainy weather, Kin Productions chairman Ko Chee Wah said: “The WCH Arena project required innovation and collaboration with technical experts and key stakeholders at World Aquatics and Sport Singapore, and execution. This has been a milestone not just for Kin Productions but also for Singapore as a host nation.”

With a seating capacity of 4,800, there is a compact feel to the facility, which is about one-third of the size of temporary facilities constructed for recent world championships.

At the 2024 edition in Doha, Qatar, swimming and artistic swimming were hosted inside the 15,500-capacity Aspire Dome, while in 2023 swimming was held at the 15,000-seater Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A – part of the Fukuoka Convention Centre – with average daily attendances ranging from 3,000 to 5,000.

Singapore’s WCH Arena stands out for its red seats and red OSB11 starting blocks, which are the same as those used at Paris 2024 and are designed for optimal propulsion into the pool and equipped with technology to detect false starts.

The seats are positioned at a 32-degree angle, providing spectators with a better viewing experience – a standard 17-degree angle is typically adopted for seats at other events here.

Four 14m by 3m screens above the spectator seating and a 29m by 3m bigger screen on the south wall will display results and replays, with 46m by 1m screens along the length of the pool for sponsors’ logos.

There are around 150 media seats, and it was also revealed that Singtel will be the official network connectivity provider of the WCH 2025 to deliver 5G+ infrastructure and network slicing technology to meet the needs of the organisers, athletes, media, security and logistics teams. 

The venue will also have a fan zone with interactive activities, merchandise areas, sponsors’ booths, and food and beverage stalls. At the tour on June 16, the organisers revealed that some finals sessions for swimming and diving are sold out, though they did not provide more details.

At the one-year countdown to the WCH in 2024, Alan Goh, 2025 World Aquatics Championships organising committee co-chairperson and chief executive officer of Sport Singapore, had said that “there are many factors we took into consideration when selecting the venue”.

The 50,000-seater National Stadium was initially mooted as the venue for swimming but in January 2024 it was reported that swimming and artistic swimming could instead be held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Six months later, the organisers revealed that a temporary facility would be built instead.

Goh said then: “Of course, National Stadium and Indoor Stadium were (involved in discussions) as well. But when we had discussions with World Aquatics, it was clear that the National Stadium with its 50,000 capacity is way over the typical attendance for the event.

“So on balance, and having considered factors such as cost, factors such as downtime of the Indoor Stadium and National Stadium, the decision was best to hold the events in the Aquatic Centre and build a very nice facility in Carpark G.”

The temporary facility could be used as a training or competition venue for local and regional meets before and after the championships, said Goh.

The Straits Times understands that one consideration is for Singapore Aquatics to use the venue to prepare for competitions such as the 2029 SEA Games held here, while the Toa Payoh Swimming Complex is currently being renovated.

Over 2,500 athletes from more than 190 countries and territories will compete in the six aquatic disciplines at the world championships.

The water polo and diving events will be held at the OCBC Aquatic Centre, while Sentosa will host open-water swimming (Palawan Beach) and high diving (Palawan Green).

The June 19-29 South-east Asia Age Group Aquatics Championships, a youth competition featuring over 500 athletes from across the region, will serve as a test event for the WCH.

The first competitions held at the WCH Arena will be for artistic swimming (June 20-22) and swimming (June 25-27), while water polo (June 19-22) and diving (June 27-29) will take place at the OCBC Aquatic Centre.