Winter Swimming World Championships (WSWC) is masters championships in the men's and women's age categories (A to J2) organized by International Winter Swimming Association (IWSA) which was founded in 2006 after great success and huge international attendance at the 2006 Finnish Winter Swimming Championships in Oulu. They have been held at biennial intervals in various locations since the year 2000[1] and follow the IWSA winter swimming rules.[2]
| Year | Country | Municipality | Date | Notices | |
| 2000 | 1. | Helsinki | About 500 participants, it is considered to be the first WSWC | ||
| 2001 | 2. | Jyväskylä | About 750 participants | ||
| 2002 | 3. | Kajaani | About 650 participants | ||
| 2004 | 4. | Muonio | About 300 participants, the prevailing style is still "head-up breaststroke" | ||
| 2006 | 5. | Oulu | Swimming in the river, 1st major international winter swimming event, 980 people | ||
| 2008 | 6. | London | 680 people, for the first time endurance swimming competition 450 m | ||
| 2010 | 7. | Bled | 790 persons, 450 m for the first time in open water | ||
| 2012 | 8. | Jurmala | 20–22 January | 1129 participants | |
| 2014 | 9. | Rovaniemi | 20–23 March | 1244 participants | |
| 2016 | 10. | Tyumen | 8–10 March | 1275 participants, strong competition | |
| 2018 | 11. | Tallinn | 6–10 March | 1386 persons, swimming pool in sea port, water 0 °C, + butterfly style | |
| 2020 | 12. | Bled | 3–9 February | 1042 persons, for the first time also a 1000 m competition (in the lake) | |
The planned venue for the WSWC 2022 Championship is Lake Onega near the town of Petrozavodsk in the Republic of Karelia in Russia, on 21 to 27 March 2022. And in following references are additional facts concerning WSWC 2020 in Bled.[3] [4] [5]