| 1995 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) | |
|---|---|
| Host city | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Date(s) | 30 November – 3 December |
| Venue(s) | Copacabana Beach (temporary venue) |
| Nations participating | 57 |
| Athletes participating | 350 |
| Events | 32 |
The 2nd FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 30 November until 3 December 1995. This event was considered a trailblazer in the aspect of the organization of major championships in swimming. The innovation consisted in the introduction of the concept of purpose-built facilities for the event only.
Previously all major international competitions, both long course and short course, were held at already-existing swimming pools, usually at clubs or facilities that had been built for previous sporting events. This limited the possibilities for organizers, especially in terms of making the event as attractive to the public and the media as possible.
For this event, the organizers built a temporary outdoor swimming pool on the sands of the Copacabana beach (near the border with the neighbouring Leme beach). This initiative not only added to the aesthetic aspect of the event, by associating with it the natural beauty offered by the city of Rio de Janeiro, but it also created the possibility of making available, at smaller costs and in a much faster fashion, a facility that was much larger and more modern than anything that the city had to offer at the time.
Since then, recent swimming events, such as the 2004 World Short Course Championships, held in Indianapolis, in the United States and the 2007 World Aquatics Championships, held in Melbourne, Australia, used the formula developed by the organizers of the 1995 Short Course World Championships, by building temporary, purpose-built facilities for their respective events — in the case of the 2004 Short Course World Championships in Indianapolis, the pool was assembled on top of a Basketball court, at a local team's gymnasium, and the organizing committee made repeated references to the "eye-opening event in Rio de Janeiro in 1995" in their decision of using a Basketball facility as the basis for the swimming facilities.
Australia topped the medal table with 26 medals (12-7-7). Four women's world records were established: two by Samantha Riley (AUS) in the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke, China's Limin Liu in the 200 m butterfly, and Costa Rica's first ever with Claudia Poll's 200 m freestyle. The Canadian women won the gold in the 4×200 m freestyle relay, beating perennial rivals Australia by almost three seconds. New Zealand won the men's 4×100 medley relay, and beat Australia for the first time ever.
American swimmers picked up three medals, one of their poorest ever international showings. They only decided to attend in late September and none of the leading swimmers were interested, as the U.S. Olympic trials were to be held in early March.
Contents |
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | 12 | 7 | 7 | 26 |
| 2 | China | 5 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| 3 | Brazil | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | Canada | 2 | 5 | – | 5 |
| =5 | Costa Rica | 2 | – | – | 2 |
| =5 | Cuba | 2 | – | – | 2 |
| 7 | Germany | 1 | 4 | 5 | 10 |
| 8 | Great Britain | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 9 | New Zealand | 1 | 2 | – | 3 |
| 10 | Denmark | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 11 | United States | 1 | – | 2 | 3 |
| 12 | Venezuela | 1 | – | 1 | 2 |
| 13 | Netherlands | – | 3 | – | 3 |
| 14 | Ukraine | – | 2 | – | 2 |
| 15 | Russia | – | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 16 | Slovakia | – | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| =17 | Poland | – | – | 3 | 3 |
| =17 | Sweden | – | – | 2 | 2 |
| =19 | France | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| =19 | Hungary | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| =19 | Romania | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 32 | 32 | 32 | 96 | |
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