MELBOURNE (Reuters) – International swimming federation FINA voted on Monday to rebrand itself ‘World Aquatics’ at its extraordinary general congress in Melbourne.
Federation International de Natacion – French for International Federation of Swimming – was the governing body’s official name dating back to 1908.
FINA President Husain Al-Musallam said the move would see all aquatics athletes united for the first time “under one brand”.
“We need a name that reflects the whole FINA family, a name that can be used with pride by our artistic swimmers, divers, high divers, open water swimmers, and our water polo athletes,” he said.
FINA delegates also voted to adopt a new constitution, which includes the creation of an independent Aquatics Integrity Unit to come into operation from Jan. 1, 2023, among other reforms.
Membership of the federation’s executive bureau will now be subject to an age cap of 75, some seven years after former president Julio Maglione scrapped previous limits, allowing him to run for a third term in 2017.
Presidential term limits will also now match the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Charter, which has a term of eight years, renewable once for four years.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
