By Charlotte Wells on SwimSwam
After over two years of development, the doors to the World Aquatics Centre of Excellence in Bahrain opened on October 30.
Coinciding with the 3rd Asian Youth Games being hosted in Bahrain, the occasion marked a significant milestone for the global development of aquatic sports and the continued global expansion of the World Aquatics organization.
Located in Manama, the capital of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the centre will provide athletes with the chance to pursue academic studies at the University of Technology Bahrain (UTB) while receiving professional training in aquatic sports.
The World Aquatics Centre of Excellence – Bahrain boasts an Olympic size 50-meter pool, a 5-meter Olympic diving pool, athlete accommodation and educational facilities integrated into the UTB campus.
The grand opening was attended by His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who is also First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, President of the General Sports Authority and President of the Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC). Senior representatives from World Aquatics, the BOC, GFH Financial Group, Infracorp, Al Namal Group and UTB were also in attendance.
World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam spoke at the event, commenting on the significance of the center’s opening.
“The World Aquatics Centre of Excellence – Bahrain embodies our vision of providing athletes with the opportunity to reach their full potential, regardless of where they come from,” he said. “Through this partnership with the Kingdom of Bahrain, we are building more than a training facility—we are building a community that unites sport, education, and innovation. This centre will serve as a beacon for aspiring athletes from around the world and a powerful symbol of World Aquatics’ commitment to excellence.”
The ceremony was designed to highlight not only the opening of the new center, but also the country’s commitment to sports excellence and the global vision behind the Centres of Excellence program. The event featured an 85-meter by 10-meter projection depicting the vision for the center’s future, as well as a live performance during which dancers manipulated layers of fabric to create the illusion of moving water.
The World Aquatics Centre of Excellence – Bahrain is the first of its kind in the Middle East and the latest to join the growing network of state of the art World Aquatics training centers that have opened around the world. Prior to the grand opening in Bahrain, World Aquatics already had operating centres of excellence in Thanyapura (Thailand), Dakar (Senegal), Cape Town (South Africa) and Davie (Florida, USA).
There are currently five athletes living and training in Bahrain under the World Aquatics coaching team while studying at UTB. The center is expected to host an increasing number of scholarship holders from around the world by early 2026, with over 50 athletes anticipated to join the program within the first year.
Omar Abbas, a Syrian athlete who competed at the Paris Olympics and trains in Bahrain, spoke on what the center meant for him and his fellow athletes.
“For every athlete here, this centre is a symbol of opportunity and inspiration,” Abbas said. “We are proud to be the first to call it home, and we look forward to representing this vision as it continues to grow and welcome more athletes from across the world.”
The opening of the World Aquatics Centre of Excellence – Bahrain has been over two years in the making, as its creation was first announced back in January 2023.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: World Aquatics’ Centre of Excellence Opens in Bahrain
