FINA

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For other uses, see Fina (disambiguation).

International Swimming
Federation
Fédération Internationale de Natation
(FINA)
Sport
  • Swimming
  • diving
  • artistic swimming
  • water polo
  • open water swimming
  • high diving
JurisdictionInternational
Founded19 July 1908; 113 years ago (1908-07-19)
AffiliationAssociation of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF)
HeadquartersLausanne, Switzerland
PresidentHusain Al-Musallam
Official website
www.fina.org
FINA flag.svg
Flag

FINA (French: Fédération internationale de natation, English: International Swimming Federation[a]) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)[1] for administering international competitions in water sports. It is one of several international federations which administer a given sport or discipline for the IOC and international community. It is based in Lausanne, Switzerland.

FINA currently oversees competition in six aquatics sports: swimming, diving, high diving, artistic swimming,[2][3] water polo, and open water swimming.[4] FINA also oversees "Masters" competition (for adults) in its disciplines.[4]

On 24 July 2009, Julio Maglione of Uruguay was elected FINA President.[5]

History[]

FINA was founded on 19 July 1908 in the Manchester Hotel in London, UK at the end of the 1908 Summer Olympics by the Belgian, British, Danish, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian and Swedish Swimming Federations.[6]

Number of national federations by year:

  • 1908: 8
  • 1928: 38
  • 1958: 75
  • 1978: 106
  • 1988: 109
  • 2000: 174
  • 2008: 197
  • 2010: 202
  • 2012: 203
  • 2015: 208[7]
  • 2016: 207
  • 2017: 209

Members[]

Further information: List of FINA Member Federations

At the June 2017, FINA Bureau meeting, Bhutan became the 208th national federation of FINA.[8] and on 30 November 2017, Anguilla became the 209th national federation of FINA[9] Members are grouped by continent, and there are 5 continental associations of which they can choose to be a member:

World Map FINA.svg

Note: The number following each continental name is the number of FINA members which fall into the given geographical area. It is not necessarily the number of members in the continental association.

Organisation[]

The FINA membership meets every four years, usually coinciding with the World Championships. There are two types of normal or "ordinary" congress: General and Technical. FINA's highest authority is the General Congress. Any technical issues concerning FINA's five aquatic disciplines are decided by the Technical Congress. Each Congress has two voting members from each Member federation, plus the following non-voting members: the 22 members of the Bureau, the Honorary Life President, and all Honorary Members. The Technical Congress has the following additional non-voting members: all members from the respective Technical Committees.[10] "Extraordinary" Congresses are also called from time to time, to deal with a specific topic or area of concern (e.g. an Extraordinary Congress was held with the 2009 World Championships to review the Masters swimming rules; there was a General Congress at the 2009 Worlds[11]). All Congress meetings are chaired by FINA's president.[10]

Between Congress meetings of the entire membership, a smaller 22-member representative board, called the FINA Bureau, meets to act in a timely manner on items which cannot wait until the entire body can meet. It is the Bureau that elects the FINA Executive Officers.[12]

Various committees and commission also help with the oversight of individual disciplines (e.g. the Technical Open Water Swimming Committee helps with open water), or topic-related issues (e.g. the FINA Doping Panel).[13]

Presidents[]

Each presidential term is four years, beginning and concluding with the year following the Summer Olympics (i.e., 2018-2021 is the current term).

1954 Honorary President - Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia) - President LEN (1948 - 1950) and FINA official.

FINA Presidents
Name Country Term
 Great Britain 1908–1924
Erik Bergvall  Sweden 1924–1928
Émile-Georges Drigny  France 1928–1932
Walther Binner  Germany 1932–1936
Harold Fern  Great Britain 1936–1948 (*)
 Belgium 1948–1952
 Argentina 1952–1956
 Netherlands 1956–1960
Max Ritter  Germany 1960–1964
 Australia 1964–1968
Javier Ostos Mora[14]  Mexico 1968–1972
 United States 1972–1976
Javier Ostos Mora (2nd term)[14]  Mexico 1976–1980
 Yugoslavia 1980–1984
Robert Helmick  United States 1984–1988
Mustapha Larfaoui  Algeria 1988–2009
Dr. Julio Maglione  Uruguay 2009–2021
Husain Al-Musallam  Kuwait 2021–present

Events[]

2008 FINA World Cup swimming at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre

FINA organizes one championship involving each of the five disciplines it oversees (the "World Championships"), as well as championships and circuits in each of the disciplines.[15]

World Aquatics Championships[]

Main article: FINA World Aquatics Championships

The biggest FINA event is the biennial World Aquatics Championships, currently held every odd year. It features competitions in all five aquatic disciplines. Prior to 2000, the event was held every 4 years, in the even year between (Summer) Olympic Games.

Discipline championships[]

  • Swimming: World Swimming Championships (25m), (a.k.a. "Short Course Worlds"). Biennial event (in even years); swum in 25-meter length pool (Olympic and World Championships are in a 50m pool).
  • Water Polo: Water Polo World Leagues (men's and women's).
  • Diving: Diving World Series.
  • High Diving: .
  • Open Water: World Open Water Swimming Championships (a.k.a. "Open Water Worlds"). Even years from 2000–2010.
  • Artistic swimming: Synchro World Trophy.[2][3]
  • Masters: World Masters Championships (a.k.a. "Masters Worlds"). Bi-annual, in even years. "Masters" competition is for adults (20 years old and up). This championships features all 5 disciplines.

Discipline world cups[]

In addition to the championships events listed above, FINA also organizes the following events:

Junior championships[]

World-level championships restricted to a younger age, with the age limit varying by discipline and gender:

Controversies[]

Soul Cap[]

In 2021, FINA came under criticism for not approving the use at the Olympics of the Soul Cap, a brand of swimming caps designed for natural Black hair.[16] FINA said the caps did not fit “the natural form of the head” and to their “best knowledge the athletes competing at the international events never used, neither require … caps of such size and configuration."[16]. After receiving criticism about racism, FINA announced that they would review their decision.[17][needs update]

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Official name in French. See Overview page of FINA's Constitution (page visited on 11 April 2016).

References[]

  1. ^ The International Olympic Committee online listing of the international federations.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Synchronized swimming to be called artistic swimming". Cbc.ca. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "FINA artistic swimming rules 2017-2021" (PDF). FINA. 13 September 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b FINA Sports page Archived 15 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine from the FINA website (www.fina.org); retrieved 2013-06-05.
  5. ^ Report from/on the 2009 FINA General Congress Archived 8 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine held on 24 July 2009 and published by FINA on 2009-07-24. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
  6. ^ The National Federation page on the FINA website.
  7. ^ "Kosovo is the 208th FINA member". FINA. Archived from the original on 20 February 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  8. ^ FINA (8 June 2017). "Bhutan Swimming Federation joins FINA as 208th National Member Federation". FINA. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  9. ^ FINA (30 November 2017). "PR 93 - FINA BUREAU MEETING - 30 November 2017". FINA. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b Structure Archived 2 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine. FINA official website. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
  11. ^ FINA calendar of upcoming meetings. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  12. ^ FINA Bureau page[permanent dead link] of the FINA website.
  13. ^ FINA Committee list Archived 2 August 2012 at archive.today
  14. ^ Jump up to: a b FINA Honorary Life President Lic. Javier Ostos Mora passes away at 92 Archived 8 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Published 2008-11-07 by FINA. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
  15. ^ FINA Media Kit Archived 10 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine for the 2010 FINA World Aquatics Convention; published by FINA on 2010-02-22; retrieved 2010-02-25. (The listing and structure of the "Events" section is based on the event listing in this packet.)
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b Priya Elan (2 July 2021). "Swimming caps for natural black hair ruled out of Olympic Games". The Guardian.
  17. ^ Owoseje, Toyin. "FINA to review use of Afro swim cap at competition level after facing criticism". CNN Sports. CNN. Retrieved 20 July 2021.

External links[]

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