Oct 21 - World Aquatics on Wednesday named Berlin, Paris and London as the host cities for the 2027 Swimming World Cup, with the three-stop series also offering direct qualification opportunities for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

• Berlin will host the opening leg from October 15-17, followed by Paris from October 22-24 and London from October 29-31.

• Athletes will be able to secure direct Olympic qualification in the newly introduced 50 metres butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke events across the series.

• The men's 50m backstroke and women's 50m butterfly qualifiers will be decided in Berlin, while Paris will determine the men's 50m butterfly and women's 50m breaststroke qualifiers.

• The final qualification places will be awarded in London's Aquatics Centre, where the men's 50m breaststroke and women's 50m backstroke events will serve as Olympic qualifiers.

• "Each city has an outstanding sporting pedigree and Olympic heritage and therefore offers a fitting stage to determine the qualifiers for 50m events newly-introduced onto the Olympic programme for LA28," said World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam. REUTERS