The probable dates of the FINA World Cup, Grand Prix and World Championship schedule are below. With the World Championship as the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim qualifier, 2011 will be an extremely important year for aspiring open water swimming Olympians. The formal dates are still to be confirmed and announced, but the possible dates are as follows:

TBD – Rosario, Argentina – 15K Open Water Swimming Grand Prix
January 23rd – Santa Fe, Argentina – 57K Open Water Swimming Grand Prix
January 30th – Santos, Brazil – 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup
Febuary 5th – Viedma, Argentina – 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup
February 13th – Hernandarias-Parana – 88K Open Water Swimming Grand Prix
TBC – Sumidero Canyon, Mexico – 15K Open Water Swimming Grand Prix
June 5th – Capri-Napoli, Italy – 36K Open Water Swimming Grand Prix
June 18th – Setubal, Portugal – 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup
July 24th – Lac St-Jean, Canada – 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup
July 30th – Lac St-Jean, Canada – 32K Open Water Swimming Grand Prix
August 6th – Lac Memphremagog, Canada – 34K Open Water Swimming Grand Prix
August 7th – Sabac, Serbia – 19K Open Water Swimming Grand Prix
August 14th – Ohrid Lake, Macedonia – 30K Open Water Swimming Grand Prix
September 25th – Shantou, China – 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup
October 2nd – Hong Kong, Hong Kong – 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup
October 9th – Cancun, Mexico – 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup
October 22nd – Sharjah, United Arab Emirates – 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup
October 26th – Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – 15K Open Water Swimming Grand Prix

The 14th FINA World Championships will be held between July 16th – 31st next year in Shanghai, China with the following planned schedule:

July 19th – 10K men and women (Olympic 10K Marathon Swim qualifier)
July 20th – 5K team event
July 21st – rest day
July 22nd – 5K men and women
July 23rd – 25K men and women

Copyright © 2010 by Steven Munatones