PR54 - Founding Federations to gather in celebration of FINA's 100th birthday on July 19th

Tomorrow, July 19, 2008, is the official 100th birthday of the Fédération Internationale de Natation. To celebrate this momentous occasion, a dinner will be held in London (GBR); the city where FINA was founded a Century ago. The Centenary birthday is of special for the whole FINA family, but especially for the eight founding Member Federations, the Past Presidents of which had the vision in 1908 that laid the cornerstone for Aquatics as we know them today. Tomorrow night, leaders of these founding Federations - Great Britain, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Hungary, Finland, France, and Denmark - will unite once again to celebrate the contribution of their predecessors and what FINA has accomplished since its formation.

Aside from the FINA Executive (President Mustapha Larfaoui, Honorary Secretary Bartolo Consolo, Honorary Treasurer Dr. Julio Maglione, and Executive Director Cornel Marculescu), the event will also welcome Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee, and representatives of British Olympic Association and the London 2012 Organising Committee. The exclusivity of attendance at this dinner serves as a reminder that in just 100 years, the national membership of FINA has grown from eight to 195 and that also during these years of expansion, FINA’s accord with the IOC has continued to strengthen.

Then, with the commencement of the 2008 Olympic Games next month, another FINA birthday gathering will be held. In Beijing on August 16, amidst the Olympic fervour, a FINA Gala will take place. This time it will be a true party, encompassing hundreds of representatives from facets of the whole FINA family. This will be the chance for dedicated aquatics enthusiasts from around the world to come together in mutual admiration for the FINA sports. What better time and place is there for such a celebration, but during the grandest sporting spectacle that will engulf the best aquatic athletes in their search for glory?

Both occasions, and indeed FINA’s entire Centenary year, can be considered an ideal opportunity to reflect on how FINA has continuously improved, expanded and flourished because of the unity of purpose and common goals of every individual it encompasses.