The International World Games Association (IWGA) and Birmingham Organising Committee (BOC) have agreed to postpone the 11th edition of The World Games until 7th to 17th July 2022. The Games had originally been planned to take place from 15–25 July next year.

The IWGA and BOC considered this in the light of the postponement of the 2020 Olympics to 2021. It soon became clear that only one 10-day period existed in which venues, accommodation and key partner support could be guaranteed: 7–17 July 2022.

The IWGA Member Federations with sports on the programme, including the ILS, gave their full support to delaying The World Games, and the joint decision of the IWGA and BOC Boards to adopt these new dates was unanimously approved by the federations in a video conference today.

The ILS is pleased to support this change of date to 2022 and thanks the IWGA and BOC for their prompt action to resolve this issue. The ILS Sport Commission will now consider the implications of this relating to the qualification process that will need to be adopted, once the rescheduling of the Lifesaving World Championships 2020 has been confirmed. Further announcements about this will be made when it is appropriate.