Danish Olympic champion Pernille Blume was unanimously elected as an at-large member of the World Aquatics Bureau on Monday.
Bureau members get to vote on potential World Aquatics rules changes, awards, and locations for future competitions, among other proposals at the organization’s annual Congress.
Blume, a Rio 2016 Olympic gold medalist in the 50 freestyle, joins the 39-member Bureau for a four-year term. The 30-year-old sprint specialist retired in 2022 after winning bronze in the 50 free a few years ago at the Tokyo Olympics. She was Denmark’s first Olympic champion swimmer since Karen Harup at the London 1948 Olympics.
Blume still owns Danish national records in the 50 free (23.75 from 2018 European Championships) and 100 free (52.69 from 2017 World Championships). The three-time Olympian currently runs an online Pilates and wellness platform called Align by Blume.
“I am delighted to share my new position as a World Aquatics Bureau member,” Blume wrote on Instagram. “It is an honour to be appointed and I can’t wait to start this new journey.”
With Blume’s appointment, the Bureau now includes 14 Olympians who have combined for eight gold medals. She’s one of 15 women on the Bureau — less than 40%, short of the 50-50 target that World Aquatics president Husain Al-Musallam set in 2022.
The Bureau is composed of Al-Musallam, 22 continental representatives (five from Africa, five from America, five from Asia, five from Europe, and two from Oceania), 16 at-large selections (three from Africa, four from America, four from Asia, four from Europe, and one from Oceania), and Athletes’ Committee chairperson Alia Atkinson.
Blume announced her engagement to French Olympic champion Florent Manaudou in 2021, but the swimming power couple is no longer together.