# 1986 World Aquatics Championships

The 1986 World Aquatics Championships took place in M86 Swimming Center in Madrid, Spain between August 13 and August 23, 1986, with 1119 participating athletes. In swimming, the 50 m freestyle events and women's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay were held for the first time.

## Medal table

| Place | Nation | | | | Total |
| 1 | East Germany | 14 | 12 | 4 | 30 |
| 2 | United States | 9 | 10 | 13 | 32 |
| 3 | Canada | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 4 | West Germany | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| 5 | Hungary | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | China | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| 7 | Soviet Union | 2 | 3 | 7 | 12 |
| 8 | Romania | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | Australia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Yugoslavia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Italy | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 12 | Netherlands | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 13 | Bulgaria | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 13 | France | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 13 | Switzerland | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 16 | New Zealand | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Great Britain | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 17 | Japan | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 19 | Denmark | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | Total | 41 | 41 | 41 | 123 |

## Medal summary
### Diving
#### Men

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 3 m springboard | Greg Louganis (USA) | Tan Liangde (CHN) | Li Hongping (CHN) |
| 10 m highboard | Greg Louganis (USA) | Li Kongzheng (CHN) | Bruce Kimball (USA) |

#### Women

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 3 m springboard | Gao Min (CHN) | Li Yihua (CHN) | Marina Babkova (URS) |
| 10 m highboard | Chen Lin (CHN) | Lü Wei (CHN) | Wendy Wyland (USA) |

### Swimming
#### Men

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 50 m freestyle | Tom Jager (USA) | Dano Halsall (SUI) | Matt Biondi (USA) |
| 100 m freestyle | Matt Biondi (USA) | Stéphan Caron (FRA) | Tom Jager (USA) |
| 200 m freestyle | Michael Gross (FRG) | Sven Lodziewski (GDR) | Matt Biondi (USA) |
| 400 m freestyle | Rainer Henkel (FRG) | Uwe Daßler (GDR) | Dan Jorgensen (USA) |
| 1500 m freestyle | Rainer Henkel (FRG) | Stefano Battistelli (ITA) | Dan Jorgensen (USA) |
| 100 m backstroke | Igor Polyansky (URS) | Dirk Richter (GDR) | Sergei Zabolotnov (URS) |
| 200 m backstroke | Igor Polyansky (URS) | Frank Baltrusch (GDR) | Frank Hoffmeister (FRG) |
| 100 m breaststroke | Victor Davis (CAN) | Gianni Minervini (ITA) | Dmitry Volkov (URS) |
| 200 m breaststroke | József Szabó (HUN) | Victor Davis (CAN) | Steve Bentley (USA) |
| 100 m butterfly | Pablo Morales (USA) | Matt Biondi (USA) | Andy Jameson (GBR) |
| 200 m butterfly | Michael Gross (FRG) | Anthony Mosse (NZL) | Benny Nielsen (DEN) |
| 200 m individual medley | Tamás Darnyi (HUN) | Alex Baumann (CAN) | Vadim Yaroshchuk (URS) |
| 400 m individual medley | Tamás Darnyi (HUN) | Vadim Yaroshchuk (URS) | Alex Baumann (CAN) |
| 4 × 100 m freestyle relay | United States (USA) Tom Jager Mike Heath Paul Wallace Matt Biondi | Soviet Union (URS) Gennadiy Prigoda Nikolay Yevseyev Sergey Smiriyagin Aleksey Markovsky | East Germany (GDR) Dirk Richter Jörg Woithe Sven Lodziewski Steffen Zesner |
| 4 × 200 m freestyle relay | East Germany (GDR) Lars Hinneburg Thomas Flemming Dirk Richter Sven Lodziewski | West Germany (FRG) Rainer Henkel Michael Gross Alexander Schowtka Thomas Fahrner | United States (USA) Eric Boyer Mike Heath Dan Jorgensen Matt Biondi |
| 4 × 100 m medley relay | United States (USA) Dan Veatch David Lundberg Pablo Morales Matt Biondi | West Germany (FRG) Frank Hoffmeister Bert Göbel Michael Gross André Schadt | Soviet Union (URS) Igor Polyansky Dmitry Volkov Aleksey Markovsky Nikolay Yevseyev |

#### Women

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 50 m freestyle | Tamara Costache (ROU) | Kristin Otto (GDR) | Marie-Thérèse Armentero (SUI) |
| 100 m freestyle | Kristin Otto (GDR) | Jenna Johnson (USA) | Conny van Bentum (NED) |
| 200 m freestyle | Heike Friedrich (GDR) | Manuela Stellmach (GDR) | Mary T. Meagher (USA) |
| 400 m freestyle | Heike Friedrich (GDR) | Astrid Strauß (GDR) | Sarah Hardcastle (GBR) |
| 800 m freestyle | Astrid Strauß (GDR) | Katja Hartmann (GDR) | Debbie Babashoff (USA) |
| 100 m backstroke | Betsy Mitchell (USA) | Kathrin Zimmermann (GDR) | Natalya Shibayeva (URS) |
| 200 m backstroke | Cornelia Sirch (GDR) | Betsy Mitchell (USA) | Kathrin Zimmermann (GDR) |
| 100 m breaststroke | Sylvia Gerasch (GDR) | Silke Hörner (GDR) | Tanya Bogomilova (BUL) |
| 200 m breaststroke | Silke Hörner (GDR) | Tanya Bogomilova (BUL) | Allison Higson (CAN) |
| 100 m butterfly | Kornelia Greßler (GDR) | Kristin Otto (GDR) | Mary T. Meagher (USA) |
| 200 m butterfly | Mary T. Meagher (USA) | Kornelia Greßler (GDR) | Birte Weigang (GDR) |
| 200 m individual medley | Kristin Otto (GDR) | Yelena Dendeberova (URS) | Kathleen Nord (GDR) |
| 400 m individual medley | Kathleen Nord (GDR) | Michelle Griglione (USA) | Noemi Lung (ROU) |
| 4 × 100 m freestyle relay | East Germany (GDR) Kristin Otto Manuela Stellmach Sabine Schulze Heike Friedrich | United States (USA) Jenna Johnson Dara Torres Mary T. Meagher Betsy Mitchell | Netherlands (NED) Conny van Bentum Laura Leideritz Karin Brienesse Annemarie Verstappen |
| 4 × 200 m freestyle relay | East Germany (GDR) Manuela Stellmach Astrid Strauß Nadja Bergknecht Heike Friedrich | United States (USA) Betsy Mitchell Mary T. Meagher Kim Brown Mary Wayte | Netherlands (NED) Annemarie Verstappen Jolanda van de Meer Marianne Muis Conny van Bentum |
| 4 × 100 m medley relay | East Germany (GDR) Kathrin Zimmermann Sylvia Gerasch Kornelia Greßler Kristin Otto | United States (USA) Betsy Mitchell Jenny Hau Mary T. Meagher Jenna Johnson | Netherlands (NED) Jolanda de Rover Petra van Staveren Conny van Bentum Annemarie Verstappen |

### Synchronised swimming

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Solo routine | Carolyn Waldo (CAN) | Sarah Josephson (USA) | Muriel Hermine (FRA) |
| Duet routine | Michelle Cameron (CAN) Carolyn Waldo (CAN) | Karen Josephson (USA) Sarah Josephson (USA) | Megumi Itō (JPN) Mikako Kotani (JPN) |
| Team routine | Canada (CAN) | United States (USA) | Japan (JPN) |

### Water polo
#### Men

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Team | Yugoslavia | Italy | Soviet Union |

#### Women

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Team | Australia | Netherlands | United States |