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Governing Body

World Aquatics

Also Known As FINA (former name, used 1908 to 2023)
International Sport Federations

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. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Body Type
International federation 1
Founded
1908 1
Founded 19 July 1908 at the Manchester Hotel in London by eight national federations: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary and Sweden.
Headquarters
Lausanne, Switzerland (announced relocation to Budapest by 2027) 1
Founders
Founded as FINA by eight national federations: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary and Sweden. 1
Connections

Associated With

Source Aquatics GB (British Swimming), Wikipedia
Source Wikipedia, USA Swimming

Governs

Swimming, Sports
Source Wikipedia, World Aquatics
Water Polo, Sports
Source Wikipedia, Water Polo

Long-Form Articles

In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia, World Aquatics
Wikimedia Foundation
  • 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.
  • Governs: Swimming
View the Source
Wikipedia, Water Polo
WikipediaGoverns: Water PoloView the Source
Aquatics GB (British Swimming), Wikipedia
Associated With: British Swimming, Wikipedia introduction, third paragraph
Quote, Associated With: British Swimming, Wikipedia introduction, third paragraph
Aquatics GB is a member of World Aquatics, LEN, the British Olympic Association and the British Paralympic Association
View the Source
Wikipedia, USA Swimming
WikipediaAssociated With: USA Swimming, Rules section
Quote, Associated With: USA Swimming, Rules section
These rules are guided by the international governing body for aquatic sports (World Aquatics).
View the Source
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