WSA Update: ‘Ring of Fire’ Tour in the Works

The World Swimming Association, conceived as an alternative governing body for international swimming, is working on ensuring its constitution is compliant with various legal bodies and has plans for a Ring of Fire tour in Asia, with more information to come early next year.

The WSA was born out of widespread criticism of FINA, the current international governing body for swimming and other aquatic sports. The newly-formed WSA held a constitutional convention back in August, hammering out a set of bylaws and ratifying them on August 31.

World Swimming Coaches Association (WSCA) President George Block e-mailed out an update this week, noting that the WSA is working to review its own constitution to make sure it is compliant with both U.S. federal law and various national governing body law and mandates. The organization is also working on a set of bylaws for its Board.

The next step will be the selection of Board members, which will be done by the combination of the WSCA, the newly-formed Professional Swimmers Association (PSA) and the World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA).

The WSCA update also confirmed the WSA’s intention to create a ‘Ring of Fire’ swim meet tour, designed to serve as an alternate to FINA’s World Cup. The tour is expected to be based in Asia, and the latest update teases a full press release on the event in early 2018.

Here’s the full WSCA update:

STATEMENT FROM WSCA PRESIDENT ON THE WORLD SWIMMING ASSOCIATION STATUS:

Greetings,

As some have inquired about the current status of the World Swimming Association (WSA), I wanted to share with you the steps we are taking to finalize its launch.  Our attorney is hard at work going over three key details:
• Reviewing the Constitutional language for compliance with US Federal law;
• Reviewing the Constitutional language for compliance with NGO law and mandates;
• Developing the by-laws template for the new WSA Board

Once this is complete, WSCA, WOWSA, and the PSA will select the initial Board members, and we will update the membership.  We aim to provide this update shortly after the new year.

In the meantime, our consultants on the WSA Pro Swim Tour are in advanced discussions with hosts, venues, and media outlets to publicly support and celebrate the Asia-based “Ring of Fire” Tour. Look for the official press release in the first quarter of 2018.

Thank you for your support, and for those of you who attended the Constitutional Convention in Washington DC.  We are thrilled to celebrate the inauguration of the WSA.

George Block,
President
World Swimming Coaches Association