Governing Bodies
World Aquatics
Also Known As FINA (former name, used 1908 to 2023)
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World Aquatics, founded in 1908 in London as FINA, governs swimming, diving, water polo, artistic swimming, open water swimming and high diving, and renamed itself in January 2023. It reached 210 member federations in 2025 with the admission of Sao Tome and Principe. It has drawn controversy for a 2022 policy that effectively bars transgender women from professional women's swimming, for a vice president accused of verbally abusing a diving judge, for a 2021 ruling on the fit of Soul Cap swim caps designed for natural Black hair, and for criticism of its handling of a Chinese doping review that left athletes with what one report called zero confidence in the body.
Facts
Body TypeInternational federation 1 FoundedFounded 19 July 1908 at the Manchester Hotel in London by eight national federations: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary and Sweden. HeadquartersLausanne, Switzerland (announced relocation to Budapest by 2027) 1 FoundersFounded as FINA by eight national federations: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary and Sweden. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Sources
1. Wikipedia, World Aquatics
Wikimedia FoundationHistory section, founding paragraphQuote, History section, founding paragraph
FINA was founded on 19 July 1908 in the Manchester Hotel in London, at the end of the 1908 Summer Olympics. Eight national federations were responsible for the formation of FINA: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary and Sweden.
1. Wikipedia, World Aquatics
Wikipedia, Water Polo
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