Aug 21, 2013
With the 2013 FINA World Championships recently completed, the United States Aquatic Sports sent off its best athletes to compete for medals.
As a requirement, FINA only recognizes one member representative from each country, and for the U.S. that is the United States Aquatic Sports (USAS) which was founded in 1980. The USAS represents: USA Swimming, Inc., USA Diving, United States Synchronized Diving, United States Master Swimming, Inc., and USA Water Polo, Inc. However, even though it is considered the representative of the U.S., United States Aquatic Sports tries not to interfere with the management of those sports and leaves most of the responsibilities to the governing boards of those sports.
Although USAS does not monitor its sports directly, it does hold national conventions to allow representatives of those sports to voice opinions, concerns, and problems. A R. Max Ritter Award is also presented to an organization or individual "who has contributed the most to the advancement of understanding and good will among nations through international participation in amateur aquatic sports." Last year's recipient was William Matson. These conventions are held at various locations throughout the U.S. The 2013 convention will be held in Garden Grove, California on September 10th the 14th.
USAS continues to grow and add aquatic sports with High Dive being its newest. As aquatic sports become more main-stream, USAS tries its best to represent its sports to FINA and the world.
