Huntington Beach, Calif. – August 13, 2009 – Former USA Water Polo President, Richard Foster, has been appointed as the Vice-Chair of the FINA Technical Water Polo Committee. FINA is the international governing body for the Olympic aquatic sports. Foster was nominated by United States Water Polo and was approved by the FINA Bureau at its General Congress in Rome, Italy at the 2009 FINA World Championships earlier this month. Foster will begin his term in September and it will run until 2013.
"We are delighted to have someone with Rich's experience and commitment to international water polo in this important role," said Christopher Ramsey, CEO of USA Water Polo. "Rich is committed to open communication, support and education for referees, and fairness in the application of the rules. We are confident that he will serve our sport well."
Foster is a veteran of water polo and the aquatics community having served as President of USA Water Polo from 1990-1996 and 2000-2006 as well as on the board of the United States Olympic Committee from 1992-1996. The Southern California native has also held a variety of positions within the Long Beach Sports Council, the Los Angeles Sports Council, chaired the local organizing committee for the 2004 US Olympic Swim Trials, and currently serves as president of United States Aquatic Sports.
Foster is a graduate of Long Beach State University, with graduate degrees from the University of Southern California and Loyola Law School. He currently practices out of his own law firm based in Seal Beach, California.
The new FINA Technical Water Polo Committee includes Chairman Gianni Lonzi (ITA), Vice Chairman Richard Foster (USA), Honorary Secretary John Whitehouse (AUS), Members Boukezouha Badreddine (ALG), Jorge Pagura (BRA), Bill Shaw (CAN), Khosrow Amini (IRI), Andrey Kryukov (KAZ), Niculae Firoiu (GER), Manuel Ibern (ESP), Evgeny Sharanov (RUS), Haluk Toygarli (TUR), G.O. Martin (HUN), Aleksander Sostar (SRB), Mohie Wahid Farid (EGY) and Bureau Liaison Dimitris Diathesopoulos (GRE)
About USA Water Polo
USA Water Polo, Inc. is the national governing body for water polo in America, overseeing our United States Olympic program as well as 20 different championship events annually, such as Junior Olympics and Masters Championships. With more than 30,000 members, USAWP is also the sanctioning authority for more than 400 tournaments nationwide. USAWP is committed to the development of the sport nationwide. It fosters grass-roots expansion of the sport, providing a national system of affiliated clubs, certified coaches and officials.
