Fan numbers expected to pick up at World Aquatics Championships after initial poor turnout

Straits Times

4 days ago

Egyptian artistic swimmers Zeina Amr and Maryam Samer competing in the women's duet technical preliminary round at the World Aquatics Championships Arena on July 18.
SINGAPORE – Over the past two weeks, world-class athletes have put on a show with their dives, flips and bounce shots at the World Aquatics Championships (WCH), though appreciative audiences have been somewhat sparse – the various venues have been half-filled at best, though attendance has picked up as the July 11-Aug 3 meet progresses.
While the organisers did not provide figures, The Straits Times observed that the turnout for the water polo sessions at the 3,000-seater OCBC Aquatic Centre was in the low hundreds during the group stage, before it picked up to around 600 for the women's final on July 23.
At Sentosa's Palawan Green, where the open water swimming events were held from July 16 to 20, the 400 seats were generally less than a quarter filled.
For the July 18-25 artistic swimming events, the 4,800-seater WCH Arena was almost empty during the women's solo free final on the morning of July 22 – a Tuesday – although the crowd swelled to more than 2,000 for the women's team free final on the evening of July 20, which was a Sunday.
Responding to ST's queries, a Singapore 2025 organising committee spokesman acknowledged that 'attendance at events varies widely, depending on the timing of the competitions and audience preferences'.
He added that based on ticket sales, they expect attendances to further improve, while they also continue their community engagement efforts.
Despite the poorly-attended group stage for water polo, things perked up at the OCBC Aquatic Centre during the knockout rounds with a strong foreign following, as flag-waving fans made a ruckus whistling, cheering and jeering as they willed their teams on.
Hungarian fan Balazs Borbandi, 35, who works here as a banking professional, said: 'There were days where there were quite few people, and others days where it feels much more lively.
'I feel the organisers should promote the events a bit more, because I was telling my Singaporean colleagues to come and watch, or watch it on TV, but I'm not sure if they were aware or interested.'
Donald Day, a 62-year-old Briton who is transiting in Singapore en route to Australia, enjoyed the atmosphere regardless.
The former water polo player said: 'Water polo is an up-and-coming sport. It's not as popular as swimming, but it's getting there. There aren't that many top quality water polo events in the UK... So it's nice to come here, where there seems to be more passion and interest.'
While Singaporean Jason Ong felt that the regular ticket prices, which range from $10-$140 with concession tickets going as low as $5, were 'very reasonable', he felt more could be done to fill seats for such a prestigious event.
He added: 'Perhaps the Government can encourage companies to give time off for employees to go watch some events on their own or with their families, and also work with schools to allow more children to attend and possibly be inspired to play sports recreationally or competitively.'
Greek fans celebrating after winning at the World Aquatics Championships water polo women's final against Hungary at the OCBC Aquatic Centre on July 23.
ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
Artistic swimming coach Julia Beloglazova, who travelled from Russia with her 15-year-old daughter to catch the event, believed that the prices of tickets – ranging from $10 to $90 – could have been a deterrent for fans.
She also noted that many spectators in the stands are coaches and family members of the athletes.
'Many tourists are coming and have already paid a lot of money to come here,' said the 50-year-old, who spent about $5,000 on flights and accommodation.
'Maybe people who want to see the show are not coming because maybe they don't understand synchronised swimming as well, but it's also too much to pay for them.'
One parent in the stands, Lei Xia, who had travelled from California to support her daughter Karen Xue, an artistic swimmer from the United States, took little notice of the turnout.
The 55-year-old said: 'I'm here to cheer for my daughter and the team, so I don't really pay attention to the number of people in the audience, but we've really enjoyed it and we're making good friends here.'
American artistic swimmer Anita Alvarez, who is making her seventh appearance at the world meet, said the crowd was not very different from other editions.
She recalled competing at a packed Kazan Arena Stadium in 2015, when she made her world championships debut, but said not every competition has attracted such large crowds.
The 28-year-old also pointed to the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on viewership and attendance.
'We're always looking for more turnout at our artistic swimming events, not just here in Singapore, but everywhere we go,' said the Olympic and world medallist.
'We're trying to continue to increase the visibility of the sport because when people see it, they love it so it's just trying to get people to know that it's here and to come.'
The Singapore 2025 organising committee spokesman said: 'While water polo events held at the OCBC Aquatic Centre saw leaner attendance, which is consistent with recent editions of the world championships, other competitions saw higher interest.
'The artistic swimming team free finals last weekend saw close to two-thirds of the available ticketed seats occupied. Tickets for the remaining events are selling quickly, with between 60 and 80 per cent already sold across the various disciplines.'
'All the high diving sessions, as well as several diving and swimming final sessions are already sold out.'
There are also ongoing community engagement efforts with preschoolers from Sport Singapore's Little Nilas programme, young athletes from schools, participants in the Singapore Olympic Foundation's Future Stars Programme, and Singapore Aquatics' affiliated clubs.
National artistic swimmer Rachel Thean was understanding of the smaller weekday crowds, noting that most children are in school and voiced her support for the community engagement efforts.
The 23-year-old said: 'It's a really good idea to encourage the kids to come down, even though it's during school hours because this is also part of learning.'
Fans can also follow the action on free-to-air TV and digital platforms like mewatch.
The spokesman added: 'We have already witnessed some amazing matches and performances, and we encourage everyone to come and experience world-class aquatics action for the rest of the Championships.'