See main article: FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships.
The 3rd FINA Open Water Swimming World Championships were held November 26 – December 2, 2004 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The championships featured 90 swimmers from 26 countries competing in six races:
| Women's 5K details | Larisa Ilchenko  Russia | 1:03:11.9 | Ksenia Popova Russia | 1:03:43.8 | Sara McLarty  USA | 1:03:52.9 |
| Men's 5K details | Grant Cleland  Australia | 56:52.9 | Christian Hein  Germany | 56:54.1 | Josh Santacaterina Australia | 56:55.5 |
| Women's 10K details | Britta Kamrau Germany | 2:07:51.7 | Jana Pechanová  Czech Republic | 2:07:52.8 | Lauren Arndt Australia | 2:07:53.5 |
| Men's 10K details | Thomas Lurz Germany | 1:54:38.0 | Alan Bircher  Great Britain | 1:54:44.8 | Danill Serebrennikov Russia | 1:55:02.8 |
| Women's 25K details | Britta Kamrau Germany | 5:43:09.6 | Edith van Dijk Netherlands | 5:43:09.7 | Natalia Pankina Russia | 5:43:14.4 |
| Men's 25K details | Brendan Capell Australia | 5:05:39.6 | Yuri Kudinov Russia | 5:07:05.2 | Evgueni Kochkarov Russia | 5:07:59.7 |
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FINA's history of open water swimming events.