The curtain came down on the 18th FINA World Swimming Championships in Korea's southwestern city of Gwangju on Sunday night... after more than two weeks of intense competition.
Our Kan Hyeong-woo has the wrap-up of all the action.
With the record-setting participation of 75-hundred athletes from 194 countries,... the 18th FINA World Swimming Championships came to an end in Gwangju on Sunday night.
Under the slogan 'Dive into Peace'... the 17-day global aquatics competition saw ten world records smashed... beginning with Britain's Adam Peaty's 56-point-8-8 seconds in the men's 100-meter breaststroke and ending with Team USA's three minutes fifty-point-4-0 seconds in the women's four by one hundred meter(4x100m) medley relay.
The championships is widely recognized as one of the world's top-five mega-sporting events along with the Summer and Winter Olympics, the FIFA World Cup and the International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships.
By hosting the swimming championships,... South Korea becomes just the fourth country in the world to have hosted all five major sporting competitions after Germany, Italy and Japan.
In a closing press conference on Sunday, the head of the organizing committee Lee Yong-sup, who doubles as Gwangju's Mayor, thanked FINA officials, the athletes, media personnel and the fans for making the event such a success.
Speaking on behalf of the world swimming governing body,... FINA President ( ) Julio Maglione said the competition venues and facilities were excellent, the athletes and media village first class, and the overall management of the competition meant the athletes go home with memories that will live with them forever.
Maglione added the FINA family appreciated the superb hospitality of the Korean people and the kindness of Gwangju's residents.
The next world aquatics championships will take place in Japan's Fukuoka in 2021.
Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News.