Stage set for 2022 season finale as Mexico hosts World Series for first time

Last but not least. The final leg of the 2022 Citi Para Swimming World Series will be marked by important debuts as nations, athletes, and even the host city will experience the competition for the first time ever. After five Series, the season comes to the closure in the westernmost city of the Latin America – Tijuana, Mexico. 

From Thursday to Sunday (6 to 9 October), the Mexican city welcomes nearly 230 athletes from 16 different nations at the Centro de Alto Rendimiento (CAR) Tijuana. The hosts, as usual, have the largest delegation of the competition with 158 athletes and will be led by the 30-year-old Paralympic champion and World Championships multi-medallist Jesus Hernandez Hernandez. 

The class S3 swimmer was the most successful Mexican athlete at the Madeira 2022 Worlds in June grabbing six medals (three gold, two silver, and a bronze), after taking home a gold from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

Hernandez will also be leading a team packed with newcomers such as Jonathan Joel Hernandez Gonzalez (S9), the youngest swimmer competing at the Mexico 2022 World Series at only 12 years of age.

Nations debut

The class S9 will also see in action the youngest female athlete at the World Series. Uruguay’s Hanna Arias is also 12 years old but born in March, two months before Gonzalez. The two-athlete Uruguayan delegation has another young swimmer making a World Series debut, 14-year-old Leandro Piaggio Cabrera (class S5).

For three countries, Tijuana will mark their first participation in the World Series. Afghanistan will have three Para swimmers in Mexico. One of them is Mohammad Naiem Durani (S9), an experienced athlete that represented his country in Para athletics in the men’s javelin F42/44 at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Mohammed Reda Dakouane will be representing Morocco also in S9 events while Christopher Josue Solis Downs will be responsible for Nicaragua’s debut competing in the S14 class. 

Confident Colombia

Colombia has the biggest delegation among the visitors at the Mexico 2022 World Series as 17 swimmers will jump in the pool during the four-day event. 

“We have prepared ourselves in the best way, this is the final event of the 2022 season,” said Colombia’s Moises Fuentes who will compete in the men’s 100 breaststroke SB4. “I have great expectations about our performance and to continue working on this process that we are carrying out with a view to the fundamental objective that is Paris 2024 [Paralympic Games].” 

Series to return to Mexico in 2023 and 2024

The 2022 season kicked off with the World Series Great Britain in Aberdeen in February followed by the World Series Australia in Melbourne the same month. Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy hosted the third Series in March with Berlin, Germany concluding in early April.

The World Series Indianapolis took place in USA also in April before moving to Mexico for the first time in October. 
World Para Swimming has signed a multi-year agreement with the Mexican Paralympic Committee (NPC Mexico) which will see the country hosting the Series through to 2024.

The 2023 Citi Para Swimming World Series calendar has already been announced and includes nine Series across four continents from February to November. More information can be found here.