diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 3a90f55f..d4b7cdc2 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -3563,6 +3563,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "mac_address",
  "memchr",
  "native-tls",
+ "parking_lot",
  "percent-encoding",
  "pin-project-lite",
  "rust_decimal",
diff --git a/sqlx-core/Cargo.toml b/sqlx-core/Cargo.toml
index 0eadf293..61c7387a 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/Cargo.toml
+++ b/sqlx-core/Cargo.toml
@@ -106,6 +106,10 @@ thiserror.workspace = true
 ease-off = { workspace = true, features = ["futures"] }
 pin-project-lite = "0.2.14"
 
+[dependencies.parking_lot]
+version = "0.12.4"
+features = ["arc_lock"]
+
 [dev-dependencies]
 tokio = { version = "1", features = ["rt", "sync"] }
 
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/pool/mod.rs b/sqlx-core/src/pool/mod.rs
index 978f101d..84776d0e 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/src/pool/mod.rs
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/pool/mod.rs
@@ -90,6 +90,8 @@ mod inner;
 mod idle;
 mod options;
 
+mod shard;
+
 /// An asynchronous pool of SQLx database connections.
 ///
 /// Create a pool with [Pool::connect] or [Pool::connect_with] and then call [Pool::acquire]
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/pool/shard.rs b/sqlx-core/src/pool/shard.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..242635e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/pool/shard.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,384 @@
+use event_listener::{Event, IntoNotification};
+use parking_lot::Mutex;
+use std::future::Future;
+use std::pin::pin;
+use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicUsize, Ordering};
+use std::sync::Arc;
+use std::task::Poll;
+use std::time::Duration;
+use std::{array, iter};
+
+type ShardId = usize;
+type ConnectionIndex = usize;
+
+/// Delay before a task waiting in a call to `acquire()` enters the global wait queue.
+///
+/// We want tasks to acquire from their local shards where possible, so they don't enter
+/// the global queue immediately.
+const GLOBAL_QUEUE_DELAY: Duration = Duration::from_millis(5);
+
+pub struct Sharded<T> {
+    shards: Box<[ArcShard<T>]>,
+    global: Arc<Global<T>>,
+}
+
+type ArcShard<T> = Arc<Shard<T, [Arc<Mutex<Option<T>>>]>>;
+
+struct Global<T> {
+    unlock_event: Event<LockGuard<T>>,
+    disconnect_event: Event<LockGuard<T>>,
+}
+
+type ArcMutexGuard<T> = parking_lot::ArcMutexGuard<parking_lot::RawMutex, Option<T>>;
+
+pub struct LockGuard<T> {
+    // `Option` allows us to drop the guard before sending the notification.
+    // Otherwise, if the receiver wakes too quickly, it might fail to lock the mutex.
+    locked: Option<ArcMutexGuard<T>>,
+    shard: ArcShard<T>,
+    index: ConnectionIndex,
+}
+
+// Align to cache lines.
+// Simplified from https://docs.rs/crossbeam-utils/0.8.21/src/crossbeam_utils/cache_padded.rs.html#80
+//
+// Instead of listing every possible architecture, we just assume 64-bit architectures have 128-byte
+// cache lines, which is at least true for newer versions of x86-64 and AArch64.
+// A larger alignment isn't harmful as long as we make use of the space.
+#[cfg_attr(target_pointer_width = "64", repr(align(128)))]
+#[cfg_attr(not(target_pointer_width = "64"), repr(align(64)))]
+struct Shard<T, Ts: ?Sized> {
+    shard_id: ShardId,
+    /// Bitset for all connection indexes that are currently in-use.
+    locked_set: AtomicUsize,
+    /// Bitset for all connection indexes that are currently connected.
+    connected_set: AtomicUsize,
+    unlock_event: Event<LockGuard<T>>,
+    disconnect_event: Event<LockGuard<T>>,
+    global: Arc<Global<T>>,
+    connections: Ts,
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+struct Params {
+    shards: usize,
+    shard_size: usize,
+    remainder: usize,
+}
+
+const MAX_SHARD_SIZE: usize = if usize::BITS > 64 {
+    64
+} else {
+    usize::BITS as usize
+};
+
+impl<T> Sharded<T> {
+    pub fn new(connections: usize, shards: usize) -> Sharded<T> {
+        let global = Arc::new(Global {
+            unlock_event: Event::with_tag(),
+            disconnect_event: Event::with_tag(),
+        });
+
+        let shards = Params::calc(connections, shards)
+            .shard_sizes()
+            .enumerate()
+            .map(|(shard_id, size)| Shard::new(shard_id, size, global.clone()))
+            .collect::<Box<[_]>>();
+
+        Sharded { shards, global }
+    }
+
+    pub async fn acquire(&self, connected: bool) -> LockGuard<T> {
+        let mut acquire_local =
+            pin!(self.shards[thread_id() % self.shards.len()].acquire(connected));
+
+        let mut acquire_global = pin!(async {
+            crate::rt::sleep(GLOBAL_QUEUE_DELAY).await;
+
+            let event_to_listen = if connected {
+                &self.global.unlock_event
+            } else {
+                &self.global.disconnect_event
+            };
+
+            event_listener::listener!(event_to_listen => listener);
+            listener.await
+        });
+
+        // Hand-rolled `select!{}` because there isn't a great cross-runtime solution.
+        //
+        // `futures_util::select!{}` is a proc-macro.
+        std::future::poll_fn(|cx| {
+            if let Poll::Ready(locked) = acquire_local.as_mut().poll(cx) {
+                return Poll::Ready(locked);
+            }
+
+            if let Poll::Ready(locked) = acquire_global.as_mut().poll(cx) {
+                return Poll::Ready(locked);
+            }
+
+            Poll::Pending
+        })
+        .await
+    }
+}
+
+impl<T> Shard<T, [Arc<Mutex<Option<T>>>]> {
+    fn new(shard_id: ShardId, len: usize, global: Arc<Global<T>>) -> Arc<Self> {
+        macro_rules! make_array {
+            ($($n:literal),+) => {
+                match len {
+                    $($n => Arc::new(Shard {
+                        shard_id,
+                        locked_set: AtomicUsize::new(0),
+                        unlock_event: Event::with_tag(),
+                        connected_set: AtomicUsize::new(0),
+                        disconnect_event: Event::with_tag(),
+                        global,
+                        connections: array::from_fn::<_, $n, _>(|_| Arc::new(Mutex::new(None)))
+                    }),)*
+                    _ => unreachable!("BUG: length not supported: {len}"),
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        make_array!(
+            0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23,
+            24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45,
+            46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64
+        )
+    }
+
+    async fn acquire(self: &Arc<Self>, connected: bool) -> LockGuard<T> {
+        // Attempt an unfair acquire first, before we modify the waitlist.
+        if let Some(locked) = self.try_acquire(connected) {
+            return locked;
+        }
+
+        let event_to_listen = if connected {
+            &self.unlock_event
+        } else {
+            &self.disconnect_event
+        };
+
+        event_listener::listener!(event_to_listen => listener);
+
+        // We need to check again after creating the event listener,
+        // because in the meantime, a concurrent task may have seen that there were no listeners
+        // and just unlocked its connection.
+        if let Some(locked) = self.try_acquire(connected) {
+            return locked;
+        }
+
+        listener.await
+    }
+
+    fn try_acquire(self: &Arc<Self>, connected: bool) -> Option<LockGuard<T>> {
+        let locked_set = self.locked_set.load(Ordering::Acquire);
+        let connected_set = self.connected_set.load(Ordering::Relaxed);
+
+        let connected_mask = if connected {
+            connected_set
+        } else {
+            !connected_set
+        };
+
+        // Choose the first index that is unlocked with bit `connected`
+        let index = (!locked_set & connected_mask).leading_zeros() as usize;
+
+        self.try_lock(index)
+    }
+
+    fn try_lock(self: &Arc<Self>, index: ConnectionIndex) -> Option<LockGuard<T>> {
+        let locked = self.connections[index].try_lock_arc()?;
+
+        // The locking of the connection itself must use an `Acquire` fence,
+        // so additional synchronization is unnecessary.
+        atomic_set(&self.locked_set, index, true, Ordering::Relaxed);
+
+        Some(LockGuard {
+            locked: Some(locked),
+            shard: self.clone(),
+            index,
+        })
+    }
+}
+
+impl Params {
+    fn calc(connections: usize, mut shards: usize) -> Params {
+        let mut shard_size = connections / shards;
+        let mut remainder = connections % shards;
+
+        if shard_size == 0 {
+            tracing::debug!(connections, shards, "more shards than connections; clamping shard size to 1, shard count to connections");
+            shards = connections;
+            shard_size = 1;
+            remainder = 0;
+        } else if shard_size >= MAX_SHARD_SIZE {
+            let new_shards = connections.div_ceil(MAX_SHARD_SIZE);
+
+            tracing::debug!(connections, shards, "clamping shard count to {new_shards}");
+
+            shards = new_shards;
+            shard_size = connections / shards;
+            remainder = connections % shards;
+        }
+
+        Params {
+            shards,
+            shard_size,
+            remainder,
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn shard_sizes(&self) -> impl Iterator<Item = usize> {
+        iter::repeat_n(self.shard_size + 1, self.remainder).chain(iter::repeat_n(
+            self.shard_size,
+            self.shards - self.remainder,
+        ))
+    }
+}
+
+fn thread_id() -> usize {
+    // FIXME: this can be replaced when this is stabilized:
+    // https://doc.rust-lang.org/stable/std/thread/struct.ThreadId.html#method.as_u64
+    static THREAD_ID: AtomicUsize = AtomicUsize::new(0);
+
+    thread_local! {
+        static CURRENT_THREAD_ID: usize = THREAD_ID.fetch_add(1, Ordering::SeqCst);
+    }
+
+    CURRENT_THREAD_ID.with(|i| *i)
+}
+
+impl<T> Drop for LockGuard<T> {
+    fn drop(&mut self) {
+        let Some(locked) = self.locked.take() else {
+            return;
+        };
+
+        let connected = locked.is_some();
+
+        // Updating the connected flag shouldn't require a fence.
+        atomic_set(
+            &self.shard.connected_set,
+            self.index,
+            connected,
+            Ordering::Relaxed,
+        );
+
+        // If another receiver is waiting for a connection, we can directly pass them the lock.
+        //
+        // This prevents drive-by tasks from acquiring connections before waiting tasks
+        // at high contention, while requiring little synchronization otherwise.
+        //
+        // We *could* just pass them the shard ID and/or index, but then we have to handle
+        // the situation when a receiver was passed a connection that was still marked as locked,
+        // but was cancelled before it could complete the acquisition. Otherwise, the connection
+        // would be marked as locked forever, effectively being leaked.
+
+        let mut locked = Some(locked);
+
+        // This is a code smell, but it's necessary because `event-listener` has no way to specify
+        // that a message should *only* be sent once. This means tags either need to be `Clone`
+        // or provided by a `FnMut()` closure.
+        //
+        // Note that there's no guarantee that this closure won't be called more than once by the
+        // implementation, but the code as of writing should not.
+        let mut self_as_tag = || {
+            let locked = locked
+                .take()
+                .expect("BUG: notification sent more than once");
+
+            LockGuard {
+                locked: Some(locked),
+                shard: self.shard.clone(),
+                index: self.index,
+            }
+        };
+
+        if connected {
+            // Check for global waiters first.
+            if self
+                .shard
+                .global
+                .unlock_event
+                .notify(1.tag_with(&mut self_as_tag))
+                > 0
+            {
+                return;
+            }
+
+            if self.shard.unlock_event.notify(1.tag_with(&mut self_as_tag)) > 0 {
+                return;
+            }
+        } else {
+            if self
+                .shard
+                .global
+                .disconnect_event
+                .notify(1.tag_with(&mut self_as_tag))
+                > 0
+            {
+                return;
+            }
+
+            if self
+                .shard
+                .disconnect_event
+                .notify(1.tag_with(&mut self_as_tag))
+                > 0
+            {
+                return;
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Be sure to drop the lock guard if it's still held,
+        // *before* we semantically release the lock in the bitset.
+        //
+        // Otherwise, another task could check and see the connection is free,
+        // but then fail to lock the mutex for it.
+        drop(locked);
+
+        atomic_set(&self.shard.locked_set, self.index, false, Ordering::Release);
+    }
+}
+
+fn atomic_set(atomic: &AtomicUsize, index: usize, value: bool, ordering: Ordering) {
+    if value {
+        let bit = 1 >> index;
+        atomic.fetch_or(bit, ordering);
+    } else {
+        let bit = !(1 >> index);
+        atomic.fetch_and(bit, ordering);
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::{Params, MAX_SHARD_SIZE};
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_params() {
+        for connections in 0..100 {
+            for shards in 1..32 {
+                let params = Params::calc(connections, shards);
+
+                let mut sum = 0;
+
+                for (i, size) in params.shard_sizes().enumerate() {
+                    assert!(size <= MAX_SHARD_SIZE, "Params::calc({connections}, {shards}) exceeded MAX_SHARD_SIZE at shard #{i}, size {size}");
+
+                    sum += size;
+
+                    assert!(sum <= connections, "Params::calc({connections}, {shards}) exceeded connections at shard #{i}, size {size}");
+                }
+
+                assert_eq!(
+                    sum, connections,
+                    "Params::calc({connections}, {shards}) does not add up ({params:?}"
+                );
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}