{"id":225098,"date":"2016-10-14T12:09:05","date_gmt":"2016-10-14T19:09:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=225098"},"modified":"2016-10-14T12:09:05","modified_gmt":"2016-10-14T19:09:05","slug":"world-swimming-association-announces-2017-constitutional-convention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/world-swimming-association-announces-2017-constitutional-convention\/","title":{"rendered":"World Swimming Association Announces 2017 Constitutional Convention"},"content":{"rendered":"

The newly assembled World Swimming Association (WSA) has announced the 2017 Constitutional Convention which will be held on the first of September next year in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0convention has two aims:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. To modify, finalize, and approve the WSA Constitution, which has been developed openly online for the past 18 months.<\/li>\n
  2. To form working committees for multiple developmental areas within the WSA, and begin planning and working on each area.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In the convention announcement the WSA acknowledged that their aim is to put an end to “corruption, self-centered governance, and money into the pockets of those ‘leading’ the sport.” Instead, the organization aims to flow money towards the athletes and vows to put an end to doping with high-throughput testing.<\/p>\n

    The Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA<\/strong>) is the governing body for aquatic sports and is recognized in that capacity by the International Olympic Committee<\/strong>. The World Swimming Association (WSA<\/strong>) is in the early stages of establishing a new entity as a credible alternative to FINA when it comes to governing swimming and open water events.<\/p>\n

    WSA is in the early stages of defining their organization to parallel FINA. Visitors to the WSA web page<\/a> can see the provisions comparing FINA to WSA in draft form.<\/p>\n

    A huge distinction in organizations can be seen immediately in how both organization select their governing board.<\/p>\n

    FINA Governing Board: <\/strong>
    \n\u2022 All Bureau Members elected by the FINA Congress<\/p>\n

    WSA Governing Board: <\/strong>
    \n\u2022 Will consist of 28 members\/directors:
    \n\u2022 The top three nations at the WSA Championships or Olympic Games will each have the right to nominate 3 members (at least one must be a coach and at least one must be an athlete*)
    \n\u2022 The next seven nations (4th – 10th place) will each have the right to nominate 2 members (1 of these members must be either a coach or an athlete)
    \n\u2022 The following five nations (11th-15th) will each have the right to nominate 1 member (this member must be either a coach or an athlete).
    \n*An athlete is defined as someone who has been ranked in the Top 150 in the World or competed at the Olympics or WSA Championships during the five years prior to being nominated to the Governing Board.<\/p>\n