FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee

Today, the FINA Bureau announced its Committees, Commissions and Panels for the 2009-2013 quadrennial. Benefitting from the tremendous work of FINA's past Technical Open Water Swimming Committee, which guided the sport to the Olympics and helped launch a new era of growth, the new Committee has plenty of momentum and numerous issues to address.

The new FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee Chairman is Ronnie Wong Man Chui of Hong Kong (shown above in yellow shirt), the Vice Chairman is Jorge Delgado Panchana of Ecuador (shown in red shirt), the Honorary Secretary is Flavio Bomio of Switzerland and the FINA Bureau Liaison is Dennis Miller of Fiji.

Committee members include Zouhier El Moufti of Morocco, Tomas Haces German of Cuba, Steven Munatones of the USA, Professor Khwaja Aziz of Bangladesh, Valerijus Belovas of Lithuania, Samuel Greetham of Great Britain, Andrea Prayer of Italy, Noam Zvi of Israel, John West of New Zealand, Hatem Seifallah Ibrahim of Egypt, Beltran Washington of Uruguay and Shelley Taylor-Smith of Australia with Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria as the Athlete's Representative.

Copyright © 2009 by World Open Water Swimming Association

Thank You For Your Vision And Hard Work

Yesterday, Nory Kruchten of Luxembourg (on right), the FINA Bureau liaison of the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee, chaired an opening meeting among the 41 countries that have sent their best open water swimmers to Italy for the 2009 World Swimming Championships.

Nory shared some of his thoughts over the last eight years, a period of remarkable growth in the sport:

"It has been a fantastic time, together with my fellow committee members. We reached the Olympics and we will continue making great steps in the future. We can still move forward."

"From the first FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships in Honolulu to the Olympic 10KM Marathon Swim, the sport has really developed."

To Nory and all the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee members, including Chairman Sid Cassidy (USA) (on left above), Vice Chairman Ronnie Wong Man Chui (Hong Kong), Honorable Secretary Shelley Taylor-Smith (Australia), Valerijus Belovas (Lithuania), Flavio Bomio (Switzerland), Alan Clarkson (Great Britain), Jorge Delgado Panchana (Ecuador), Dr. Mohie Wahid Farid (Egypt), Paulo Frischknecht (Portugal), Tomas Haces German (Cuba), Dennis Miller (Fiji) and Vladimir Srb (Czech Republic), we extend our sincerest gratitude to your vision and hard work over the years.

Copyright © 2009 by World Open Water Swimming Association

Deciding the Future of Elite Open Water Swimming

The FINA’s Technical Open Water Swimming Committee members are gathering in Kuwait this week to discuss and decide a variety of critical issues to better govern, judge, administer and promote the sport of open water swimming.

Their discussions and decisions will have a significant impact on FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup circuit, the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix and the FINA World Swimming Championship events. The proposed rules changes were previously submitted by various national swimming federations and are now being considered by the Committee through careful deliberation and discussion.

The members include Chairman Sid Cassidy of the USA, Vice Chairman Ronnie Wong Man Chui of Hong Kong, Honorable Secretary Shelley Taylor-Smith of Australia, Valerijus Belovas of Lithuania, Flavio Bomio of Switzerland, Alan Clarkson of Great Britain, Jorge Delgado Panchana of Ecuador, Dr. Mohie Wahid Farid of Egypt, Paulo Frischknecht of Portugal, Tomas Haces German of Cuba, Dennis Miller of Fiji and Vladimir Srb of the Czech Republic. The FINA Bureau Liaison is Nory Kruchten of Luxembourg. The Coaches' Commission Liaison is Osvaldo Arsenio of Argentina and the Athletes' Commission Liaison Daniel Kowalski of Australia.

Photo taken by Giorgio Scalia of Valerio Cleri at the 2008 European Open Water Swimming Championships in Croatia.