The 2017 FINA World Masters Championships ended in Hungary

“It will be very hard to outshine Budapest”, said Mohamed Diop, the Supervisor of FINA Bureau’s Masters Committee at the closing ceremony of the 2017 FINA World Masters Championships. This marks the end of a phenomenal month for Budapest and Balatonfüred when the two cities turned into the home and capital of water sports.

The World Masters Championships started on the 7^th of August, one week after the FINA World Championships had ended, and finished on the 20^th of August. The two weeks were quite eventful as one-time professional swimmers took turns in the water and impressed the whole world with their persistence, still amazing physique and zest for life.

According to masters.fina-budapest2017.com, the history of the master events started a few decades ago. After initiations from several organisations, the newly elected FINA President Robert Helmick proposed to the Bureau in 1984 that the international federation take Masters under its wing. The preparation processes started and special rules were drawn up so that Masters could join the FINA family and events, and the members of a Masters Committee were appointed.

The first championships were held in Tokyo in 1986, under the rules of FINA. Swimming remained the only sport at the event until 1990, since then, all five disciplines form parts of the show. According to the format introduced in 2015, the FINA World Masters Championships has to be held alongside the main event, as its integral part.

The events of the Masters Championships took place at four competition venues: three in Budapest, and one in Balatonfüred for the open water swimming races. Similarly to the elite competitions, the main venues were the Danube Aquatics Arena (swimming, diving), the Alfréd Hajós Complex (water polo) and the City Park (synchronised swimming).

The minimum age limit at the championships was 25 in most disciplines (except for water polo – 30), which is determined by the actual age of the competitor as of December 31^st of the year of the competitions. The participants were listed in five-year age groups as high as is necessary.

As we reported, several records were broken by amazing athletes, who still find joy in sport and know no age limits. The oldest male athlete at the championships was the 97-year-old Hungarian veteran, Béla Bánki Horváth, while the oldest female participant was the 96-year-old American Emilie Kornfeld. She was the only one who entered the 800 m freestyle event in the 95-99 age group, and managed to set a new world record with an amazing performance.