The 1st FINA World Championships in Aquatics were held in the Tašmajdan SRC in Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia, from 31 August to 9 September 1973.

Bradford Paul Cooper is an Australian former freestyle and backstroke swimmer of the 1970s, who won a gold medal in the 400 m freestyle at the 1972 Summer Olympics. In that race he originally finished second by the smallest margin ever to decide an Olympic swimming final, but was later awarded the gold medal after the victor, American Rick DeMont, an asthmatic, was disqualified after his post-race urinalysis tested positive for traces of the banned substance ephedrine contained in his prescription asthma medication, Marax.