The World Games are held in the city of Cali in Colombia from 25 July to 4 August 2013.

Lifesaving is on the programme of the World Games since 1985. The World Games in Cali are be the biggest World Games ever staged. The organisation of such an event is a mammoth task and the whole lifesaving family is very grateful to Colombia, the City of Cali and the Cali Local Organising Committee (CLOC) who made even impossible things possible.

The World Games is a multi-sport event organised every four years, one year after the Summer Olympic Games. The World Games are under the responsibility of the International World Games Association (IWGA) and under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The World Games are covering over 30 sports and Lifesaving is categorised as a “Trend Sport” at the World Games. The 2013 World Games in Cali only covered pool compe¬titions. The World Games is more than competition, winning medals and champions. The World Games is about meeting fellow lifesavers, people from other sports, renewing friendship and exchanging ideas.

The qualified countries participating in the World Games 2013 were selected at the 2012 Lifesaving World Championships that took place in November 2012 in Adelaide – Australia. The selection of teams to the World Games were based on their results in the World Games events at the World Championships. The following nations were selected (in order of points score): Italy, Germany, France, The Netherlands, China, Belgium, South Africa, Spain, Canada and Japan.

The Opening Ceremony took place in the Cali Olympic Stadium, a stadium with a seating capacity of 45.000 people. Some 50.000 people were allowed to enter the stadium which was packed and there were still people standing outside of the stadium in the hope to be able to enter.

The events took place in the Hernando Botero O’Byrne Swimming Pool of Cali, an open-air pool with 7.000 spectator seats.

Highlights of the Lifesaving Competition were:

• The outstanding competition and the sportsmanship.
• The many World Games Records and even World Records.
• The friendship and enthusiasm demonstrated by the people of Cali and Colombia.
• The assistance ILS received from the IOC, IWGA and from the FICS.
• The visit of the IOC President to the Lifesaving Competitions.
• The visit of IOC Members and the Mayor of Cali at the Lifesaving Competition.
• The marching in at the opening ceremony in the presence of a crowd of some 50.000 people.
• The enthusiastic supporters at the lifesaving competitions. The first day, 4.750 tickets were sold and for finals on the second day, 6.250 tickets were sold. There were over 7.000 people in the pool at the competition moment.

All results can be found on:
http://worldgames2013.sportresult.com