World School Swim Championships return to London this weekend

WSG Media Team | Preview / News / WSG Swim

| 13/08/26

Other News

The World School Swim Championships are just days away, with hundreds of young athletes set to join us in London for a fantastic weekend of action as the 2025/26 WSG Event Series continues!

Over 500 swimmers from schools across the globe – and representing 23 nationalities in five different continents – will take part in the prestigious event which is returning for its fifth edition.

We are especially delighted this year to welcome swimmers from countries which have not yet been represented at a World School Games event – such as Mongolia and Pakistan.

WSG Swim 2026 will once again be held at the London Aquatics Centre – the iconic home of swimming at the 2012 Olympic Games and boasting some of the finest sporting facilities in the world.

Our young athletes will have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of their Olympic heroes, representing themselves, their school, and their country on the international stage.

Athletes will compete across Boys & Girls categories in U11, U13, U15, and Open age groups, with both individual and school team accolades up for grabs.

New for 2026, WSG Swim will officially get underway on Friday evening with our highly-anticipated ‘Friday Night Lights’ session.

After an afternoon of training and a Q&A session with a very special guest, the electric curtain-raiser session will feature the 200m Medley (U15 & Open only) as well as 4x50m Freestyle, Medley, and Mixed Freestyle relays.

The action will then continue into Saturday (long course) and Sunday (short course), with the WSG Nations Cup also making a return.

A true fans’-favourite last year, the unique race sees two male and two female athletes from each competing school nation selected to represent their country in a 4x50m Mixed Relay.

Participants will be selected based on their 100m Freestyle heat times, and the national team with the fastest WSG Nations Cup heat time will be crowned champions. Team England are reigning champions, and you can recap the nail-biting 2025 edition on our Instagram.

We’re also excited to be bringing spectators even more interviews and features with our swimmers featured on both the live stream and in-house screens. Keep an eye out for the WSG cameras…!

Awards ceremonies will take place at regular intervals throughout the event, shining a light on the incredible achievements of our young athletes on the world stage. As well as hundreds of individual medals up for grabs, overall team champions will be crowned in each of our four age categories as we search for the World Champions of School Swimming.

WSG Swim Merchandise

The pre-order window has now closed but thanks to our partners at Unite Teamwear, we’ll have a variety of t-shirts, hoodies, bags, and caps available to purchase at the LAC throughout the weekend.

View the full range HERE.

Stay up-to-date

We’re pleased to once again confirm that every single race of The World School Swim Championships 2026 will be broadcast live on our YouTube Channel, allowing friends and family to follow on from afar!

As mentioned, we’ll have additional cameras poolside and in the stands to capture every angle of the action and hear from our athletes as they reflect on their incredible performances.

As always, we’ll also have regular multimedia updates from the LAC throughout the weekend on our social media channels – Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter/X to keep you right up-to-date with all the action.

A full list of participating school teams can be found below…