World AquaticsCopied

On 12 December 2022 in Melbourne, FINA, the Fédération Internationale de Natation, became World Aquatics after a vote at an extraordinary congress on the eve of the short course world championships. Over 114 years, the federation had governed swimming, artistic swimming, diving, high diving, open water and water polo.

President Al-Musallam explained the problem with the name. FINA is a French acronym, and natation represents only swimmers, one important part of the family. The federation needed a name its divers, artistic swimmers and water polo players could use with pride, and more than 70 percent of athletes consulted said they wanted a change. The new identity, he said, focuses on a shared vision: a world united by water.

Sports Business Journal told the story behind it. After Al-Musallam's election in 2021, the leadership realised that younger generations saw FINA as an old, rickety, bureaucratic federation that existed mainly for the Olympics. Early in 2022 an agency led a wide survey of fans, athletes, national federations, sponsors and broadcasters, including one-on-one interviews with nearly two dozen athletes. The findings were stark: the only demographic with affinity for FINA's existing name and logo was over 60.

A months-long design process produced a simpler name and a logo intended to highlight the six disciplines and the federation's global reach. Colour-coded versions were created for each of the 209 national federations, and sponsors may later get their own.

Inside The Games described the launch party in Melbourne, staged hours after the vote, with the logo shown on LED screens and swimmers including Adam Peaty, David Popovici and Chad le Clos in the room. President Al-Musallam said consultation had made the message loud and clear: FINA had been formed to represent swimmers, not the whole aquatics family. Bureau member Balázs Fürjes called it the most inclusive federation, with women close to 40 per cent of its Bureau. The name finally describes the organisation; the logo's six circles and five lines simply spell that out.

This is a rebrand driven by evidence rather than ego, and it shows. World Aquatics is plain, descriptive and translatable, everything FINA was not. The federation's reputation problems were never really about lettering, but dropping a name that excluded most of its own athletes is a genuine fix, not cosmetics.