World Aquatics has released the complete competition schedule for the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) – Beijing 2026, giving swimmers and fans a detailed preview of the six-day event at the Beijing National Aquatics Centre, widely known as the Water Cube.
The championships will take place from 1 to 6 December 2026. Morning sessions will begin at 10:00 local time and will feature the heats, while the semi-finals and finals will take place during evening sessions beginning at 19:00. On the final day, the evening programme will start slightly earlier at 18:00 as the championships conclude with a series of sprint and relay events.
The programme includes a complete selection of men’s and women’s individual and relay races across all six days. Mixed freestyle and mixed medley relays will also feature, continuing to be an important part of the short-course championships and adding further variety to the competition.
World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam welcomed the return to Beijing, highlighting the city’s strong record of hosting major international aquatics competitions. He said the release of the schedule allows athletes and supporters to begin preparing for six days of high-level short-course racing and expressed his excitement at seeing the world’s leading swimmers compete at the Water Cube.
The Beijing 2026 Organising Committee also expressed its enthusiasm about welcoming the world’s best swimmers back to the National Aquatics Centre. Organisers said preparations for the championships are already progressing and that they are aiming to provide a memorable experience for athletes, spectators and fans from around the world.
The Water Cube has a unique place in Olympic history. The venue hosted swimming competitions during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games before being adapted to host ice sports during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. As a result, it is one of the few venues worldwide to have hosted competitions at both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
The newly released schedule provides a session-by-session breakdown of the competitions and shows how the events will be distributed throughout the six days. Fans can now plan which races they want to follow, while athletes and teams can use the timetable to prepare for their respective events.
World Aquatics has noted that the schedule is not necessarily final, meaning changes could still be made before the championships begin. The latest version of the full programme is available through the organisation’s official website.
