It is my great pleasure and honour to welcome all the participants to the 1st FINA World Aquatics Convention, organised from September 27-29, 2010 in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

During three days, the entire Aquatic community will be gathered to discuss the ways of enhancing the development of our Sports in the five continents.

Delegates from National Federations, representatives from prestigious organisations such as the International Olympic Committee and the United Nations, from sport business companies such as Sponsors, TV networks and commercial partners, but also Organisers and future Bidders of FINA events will be invited to attend this Convention.

The main goal of this Convention is to provide our 202 National Member Federations with programmes for further progress in the areas of management, promotion and organisation of events. Moreover, it will be a privileged opportunity for all protagonists of the FINA Family to network together.

I consider that the development of FINA’s National Federations is the main tool on creating a solid basis for the progress for our sports. Our Members must feel part of a strong organisation, FINA, with the aim of organising great FINA events as Aquatic Festivals, where the world will enjoy the great stars in our five disciplines.

We are aware that the world is presently experiencing a challenging financial environment and that we cannot change the economical situation in many countries where the lack of budget and infrastructures limits the evolution of our National Federations. But in this Convention, we present the guidelines to be implemented within each National Federation context and circumstances. We want to present new ideas, to be innovative and to share our knowledge to the entire FINA Family.

For that, we will have in this Convention many respected and well-known lecturers, who will provide their insight on how our 202 National Federations must further proceed in improving their activities. Moreover, we will show to Organisers and potential bidders of our events that FINA is among one of the most successful International Federations in the world sport industry and constitutes a pillar of the Olympic Movement. We will also present to existing and future commercial partners the benefits and positive impact associated to FINA’s main product, its World Championships.

That is why I invite all our partners, those with the main goal of improving the Aquatic Sports, to be present in Punta del Este, Uruguay. Your contribution is essential for the success of this Convention! And be sure, you will also learn a lot from this exchange of information, so that we can enhance the progress and development of National Federations and Aquatics in general. Water is our world and the time has come to swim together, faster and farther.

See you soon and best regards,

Dr. Julio C. Maglione
FINA President