World Aquatics has officially launched the 2026–27 Scholarship Programme, inviting applications from national team athletes worldwide who have competed internationally but lack access to high-performance training environments in their home countries. This edition of the programme marks a significant milestone with the inclusion of High Diving scholarships for the first time, reflecting the federation’s deepened commitment to expanding support across all aquatic disciplines.
Since its inception in 2014, the World Aquatics Scholarship Programme has been a cornerstone initiative in the federation’s athlete development strategy, designed to provide financial, technical and competitive support to emerging talent preparing for elite events such as the World Aquatics Championships and the Olympic Games.
For the 2026–27 cycle, the programme will allocate opportunities across multiple sports, with targeted quotas that include 100 swimmers, 20 open water swimmers, 20 divers, 20 water polo players, 10 artistic swimming duets and 6 high divers—the latter entering the scholarship framework for the first time. Gender balance and continental representation are key priorities in the selection process.
Scholarship recipients will benefit from placement in world-class training environments tailored to their discipline. Swimming athletes will be stationed at renowned World Aquatics Training Centres in locations such as Antibes (France), Bahrain, Thanyapura in Thailand and Bond University in Australia, while diving talent will train in Toronto, Canada and open water swimmers at Azura Florida Aquatics, USA or Antibes. Athletes receive full accommodation, top-tier coaching, competition support, insurance coverage and a personal allowance. Bahrain-based scholars also have access to academic opportunities at the University of Technology Bahrain covered by the programme.
Water polo athletes are offered placements with first and second division clubs across Europe—spanning Spain, France, Croatia and Greece—giving them regular competitive exposure in high-level league environments. Artistic swimmers and high divers, together with their national federations, are given flexibility in choosing their training bases, supported by dedicated scholarship grants.
The duration of awards varies by sport: swimming, diving and open water scholarships extend for two years, aligning with the lead-up to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, while grants for water polo, artistic swimming and high diving are issued on a one-year basis.
Eligibility criteria require athletes to be active members of their national teams with a record of international competition exposure and aspirations to compete in forthcoming global events. The deadline for applications submitted by national federations was 30 April 2026, with individual nomination forms required for each discipline.
With the programme’s expanded scope and historic inclusion of high diving, World Aquatics aims to broaden pathways for elite athlete development, strengthen competitive depth across disciplines and help athletes reach new performance benchmarks on the world stage.
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