The 15th FINA World Aquatics Championships take place in Barcelona from July 20 to August 4 and both BBC Sport and British Eurosport will provide extensive coverage.
Exactly a year on from a thrilling aquatic exploits at London 2012, the World Championships of 2013 will comprise of five different Olympic disciplines – diving, swimming, open water swimming, synchronized swimming and water polo – with a total of 68 gold medals up for grabs.
In the last aquatics championships back in 2011, America dominated the swimming events, winning 29 medals, 16 of them being gold.
The stars of the show were undoubtedly Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, who won ten medals between them.
Phelps went on to become the most decorated Olympian of all time at London 2012 a year later, winning his 22nd medal, before deciding to retire from the sport after the Games.
Great Britain’s squad have a point to prove as they look to improve on a relatively disappointing return from last year’s Olympic Games, where the entire team won just one silver and two bronze medals, which was two short of their minimum target of five medals.
A team of 27 will travel to Barcelona with new head coach Bill Furniss selecting athletes considered to have medal potential for Rio 2016, including 2012 silver medallist Michael Jamieson.
They will have tough competition in the form of Ryan Lochte, Chad Le Clos and Missy Franklin, as the 2012 gold medallists return to the world stage.
Britain’s gold medals in the last World Championships in Shanghai two years ago came in the form of the now retired Rebecca Adlington and open-water swimmer Keri-Anne Payne, who won the gold in the 10km.
Two years ago in the diving events, it was China who ruled the deep pool, winning 14 of the 30 medals available, including all 10 gold that were available to win.
This year Tom Daley will not only have to overcome the Chinese diving team, but also an elbow injury that forced him to withdraw from the European Championships.
The young Brit remains hopeful, and the bronze he won at the 2012 Olympics is likely to spur him on to improve on his fifth place last year.
However, he is likely to face stiff competition from the two men who finished above him on the Olympic podium last summer – China’s silver medallist Qui Bo and gold medallist David Boudia, from the United States.
BBC Sport will broadcast selected live coverage and highlights from the 2013 World Aquatics Championships, mainly focusing on the swimming events in the final week.
BBC TV’s output begins on Sunday, July 28, with live coverage of the men’s 10m platform diving final at the World Championships in Barcelona, where Great Britain’s Olympic bronze medallist Tom Daley will attempt to recapture the world title he won in 2009.
Helen Skelton will introduce the action on BBC Two from 1.00pm, with Bob Ballard and Leon Taylor providing commentary.
Then from July 29 to August 4, attention turns to the swimming meet as Gabby Logan presents BBC Two’s coverage of each evening session throughout the week from Barcelona.
There will also be a catch-up highlights programme on BBC One on the final Saturday of the competition on August 3.
Logan will be joined for expert analysis and comment by double Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington, who joins the BBC television for the first time after announcing her retirement from the sport in February.
The 24-year-old, who won 400m and 800m freestyle titles at the 2008 Beijing Games, will be alongside former British team-mate and regular BBC swimming analyst Mark Foster.
Commentary will come from Andy Jameson and Adrian Moorhouse, while Sharron Davies will conduct the poolside interviews with the swimmers during the event.
Commenting her new TV role, Adlington told BBC Sport: “It’s going to be a very interesting and exciting competition, especially after an Olympic year.
“I’m so glad it’s back on people’s TV screens as I know people love watching it and people always ask me when the swimming is next on.
“I’m so excited to be part of this amazing BBC team. I have known most of them for a long time but always been on the other side so it’s so nice now I’ve retired to be able to join them.”
The action can be seen online via the BBC Sport website and app, which will also feature extensive daily reports and features from Barcelona, plus every programme can be seen on-demand via BBC iPlayer shortly after transmission.
BBC Radio 5 live and 5 live Sports Extra will also have regular reports and commentaries from Barcelona with Bob Ballard and Karen Pickering.
British Eurosport will also be screening extensive live coverage every day throughout the championships from Sunday, July 21.
The pan-European broadcaster will be the only place to see all action from the diving during the first week, as well as full live coverage of each swimming session during the second week.
In addition to showing all the swimming and diving events, British Eurosport will also screen selected live coverage of the synchronised swimming and water polo competitions.
Extensive coverage can also be viewed online via Eurosport Player (subscription required).
Why are the BBC showing so little coverage? Is it a rights issue or are they just not bothering?