Incheon to host World Para Swimming World Series in 2027 and 2028
Korea's first hosting of the event will give Korean athletes access to international classification at home and may also open the door for bringing the World Para Swimming Championships to Korea.
Craig Nicholson, head of World Para Swimming, inspects a site in Incheon in on Sept. 29.
KOREA PARA SWIMMING FEDERATION
Incheon will host the World Para Swimming (WPS) World Series at the Munhak Park Tae-hwan Aquatics Center in 2027 and 2028. Next year will mark the first time the event is held in Korea.
“WPS formally approved Incheon as a host city after wrapping up a two-day site inspection that began on Sept. 29,” the Korea Para Swimming Federation said Wednesday. “The city now becomes a regular stop on the World Series circuit alongside [the] Gold Coast in Australia, Barcelona in Spain, Lignano in Italy, Paris in France and Guadalajara in Mexico.”
Craig Nicholson, head of World Para Swimming, said organizers had established a strong operational foundation and were working closely with the relevant agencies. He also expects broad participation next year, given that Incheon will be the circuit’s only East Asian stop.
Hosting the World Series in Korea is also expected to ease a longstanding hurdle for the country’s para swimmers: obtaining an international classification. Until now, Korean athletes have had to travel abroad to receive a WPS classification before competing internationally.
Hosting the World Series at home is expected to reduce both the procedural and financial burden. Competing at home alongside the world’s top swimmers could also help Korean athletes raise their performance, expand the sport’s domestic base and generate wider interest in para swimming.
“Hosting the World Series for two consecutive years fulfills a long-held wish for Korea’s para swimmers,” said Sung Baik-you, head of the Korean federation. “This will give athletes who have posted strong times but have been unable to obtain international classification a valuable opportunity, and I believe it will help take Korean para swimming to the next level.”
Sung noted that organizers must now secure a title sponsor for the event and will also need strong backing from Incheon-based companies.
Hosting the World Series could also pave the way for a bigger goal: bringing the World Para Swimming Championships to Korea.
“The World Para Swimming Championships can only be held in countries with experience hosting the World Series,” said In Tae-jun, chair of the referees committee at the Korean federation. “If we successfully stage the 2027 and 2028 events, it could open the door to hosting the World Championships scheduled for 2029. We have already reached a verbal agreement with WPS.”
The Korean Para Swimming Federation plans to establish a World Series organizing committee in Incheon and begin full-scale preparations in October, including event operations, promotion, volunteer recruitment and facility upgrades.
BY BAE YOUNG-EUN [[email protected]]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
