FINA Votes to Change Name to ‘World Aquatics,’ Enacts Other Reforms in New Constitution

FINA voted to change its name to “World Aquatics” at the FINA Extraordinary General Congress on the eve of the 2022 Short Course World Championships in Melbourne, Australia.

The move was meant to symbolize inclusivity for all aquatic disciplines — not just swimming. FINA stood for Federation International de Natation, which is French for International Federation of Swimming. The organization said that FINA has been its official name since 1908.

According to FINA president Husain Al-Musallam, more than 70% of the athletes who were consulted on the decision supported a rebranding. Many didn’t even know the meaning behind FINA’s acronym.

“The word ‘natation’ represents swimmers,” Al-Musallam said. “These days, swimmers are only one important part of our FINA family. 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.

“I will always tell you that our athletes must come first,” Al-Musallam continued. “So I would never make a decision like this without consulting our athletes. Their response has been very clear: More than 70% of the athletes that we have spoken with have said that they would like us to change FINA’s name. Many of them could not even tell us what FINA’s letters stand for. We have spoken to people in every part of FINA’s family, including people in this room today, it is important that you all have a voice in a decision like that. FINA is our past, and we should look back on much of the past with affection, but our future must begin here today.”

The rename follows a global trend: the IRF rebranded to World Rugby in 2014, the IAAF rebranded to World Athletics in 2019, and the ITU rebranded World Triathlon in 2020.

Along with the new name, FINA also voted to adopt a new constitution. Among the reforms was the creation of an independent Aquatics Integrity Unit, which was proposed by the FINA Reform Committee. The Aquatics Integrity Unit was first approved by FINA member federations in Abu Dhabi before last year’s Short Course World Championships, and the Unit’s members were confirmed at the long-course World Championships in Budapest this summer.

The Aquatics Integrity Unit will become fully operational on Jan. 1, 2023. The intent is to offer additional protections for athletes to ensure fair competition. After one member of the Unit’s adjudicatory board had to resign due to personal reasons, FINA executive director Brent Nowicki announced that Portuguese attorney Alexandre Miguel Mestre had been unanimously approved as the replacement.

Additionally, nine women are expected to join the FINA Bureau as part of a gender equality initiative, bringing the balance closer to even at 38% female.

“This is a big and significant step,” Al-Musallam said. “Of course, there is more work to do; our target must be a 50-50 split. Today’s vote brings us closer to this goal.”

The new constitution also imposed a general age limit of 75 years old for the FINA Bureau and aligned its presidential term limits with the Olympic Charter.

FINA said the new constitution gives athletes more power. Twenty elected members of the Athletes Committee can now vote in FINA Congress. The chair of the Athletes Committee (currently Alia Atkinson) is automatically considered a Bureau member. Al-Musallam credited Atkinson for her role in the reforms.

“You are making a vital contribution,” Al-Musallam said. “You are making sure the voices of athletes are heard.”

You can watch the full Congress here:

During his speech to the Congress last year, Al-Musallam hinted at the complete rebrand of FINA that is now taking place.