Latest news with #WorldAquaticsGeneralCongress
IOL News
a day ago
- Sport
- IOL News
Sam Ramsamy receives Order of Merit Award from World Aquatics for his 30 year service
Sam Ramsamy, right, receives the World Aquatics Order of Merit from IOC Honorary President for Life, Thomas Bach. Image: Hiroyuki Nakamura / World Aquatics SPORT'S stalwart, anti-apartheid activist and International Olympic Committee (IOC) Honorary Member, Sam Ramsamy was honoured on Tuesday night at the World Aquatics General Congress with the organisation's Order of Merit. World Aquatics said Ramsamy was a figure who has made a profound impact on global sport and bestowed the honour on him as he stepped down after an extraordinary 29-year tenure as a World Aquatics Bureau Member. World Aquatics also acknowledged Ramsamy for his role as an anti-apartheid pioneer and a champion of sport as a force for change. Ramsamy served on the Bureau of World Aquatics since 1996. He was Vice President from 2003 to 2021, whereafter he served as First Vice President. The Order of Merit award was presented to Ramsamy by IOC Honorary President for Life Thomas Bach. On presenting the award, Bach said, 'Mr Ramsamy, you are a great friend to all of us. Thank you for everything you've done for athletes, for sport, for humanity, and for swimming.' IOC President Kirsty Coventry paid her own personal tribute to Ramsamy, 'I am proud of you, Sam. Africa is proud of you. You have united us and made us feel as one.' IOC Member, Anant Singh commented, 'It was a privilege to be present to see Sam being recognized for his lifelong commitment to swimming and sport in general. Sam has made an indelible mark on the world of sport and continues to play a significant role as an IOC Honorary member. I was also delighted to have been present to witness, on the same day, Pieter Coetzee winning the Gold Medal for the 100m backstroke and it was quite a moving experience to see Sam have the opportunity to present the medal to him.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Ramsamy said, 'I am honoured to receive the Order of Merit for my service at World Aquatics. I have witnessed the sport grow during my tenure at World Aquatics. I am also proud to have seen the sport grow in Africa, especially with African countries targeting medals. We had Penny Heyns, Kirsty Coventry, Chad Le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh, as well as the 2024 South African Swim Relay team all achieving Gold. It is now time for the younger generation of officials to pursue greater glory as they take World Aquatics into the future.' Speaking about Pieter Coetzé's win on Tuesday at the World Aquatics Championships, Ramsamy said, 'I congratulate Pierre Coetzee on winning the Gold Medal in the 100m Backstroke. At only 21 he is already showing total maturity. He was disappointed with his results at the Paris Olympic Games, but his sparkle will undoubtedly light up at LA28.' SUNDAY TRIBUNE
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
World Aquatics launches US$10 million post-career compensation fund for aquatic athletes
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox SINGAPORE – Athletes who do well enough to win prize money at World Aquatics events will benefit from its new US$10 million (S$12.8 million) post-career compensation fund that is aimed at helping them cope with the transition into a new phase of life. World Aquatics president Husain Al-Musallam unveiled the initiative at the World Aquatics General Congress in Singapore on July 29, as it becomes the first international federation to introduce such a plan for its athletes. He said: 'We speak a lot about what we can do to support athletes during their careers, but what about after they retire from competing? 'We know that athletes face real challenges once their careers come to an end – it's a major change in their lives and often in their income too. 'Our development team is already providing advice and support to help athletes plan for life after sport, but we want to do more. We want to support them financially as well.' On July 30, World Aquatics executive director Brent Nowicki gave details of the mechanism in a media session on the sidelines of the July 11-Aug 3 World Aquatics Championships (WCH). Following a healthy 2024 financial report of US$107.83 million in revenue, US$51.17 million in net surplus as total assets increased to US$241.51 million, World Aquatics will make the initial US$10 million contribution to the post-career compensation fund and add US$1-2 million per year afterwards, in addition to monies raised from donors and sponsors. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Water supply issues during Toa Payoh blaze affected firefighting operations; SCDF investigating Singapore MHA to support HSA's crackdown on Kpod abusers and help in treatment of offenders: Shanmugam Singapore Tampines, Toa Payoh BTO flats most popular among first-time home buyers in July HDB launch Singapore Bukit Panjang LRT to shut on 2 Sundays to facilitate tests; some upgrading work nearing completion Singapore Jail, fine for man linked to case involving 3 bank accounts that received over $680m in total Singapore Provision shop owner who raped 11-year-old gets more than 14 years' jail Singapore School, parents on alert after vape peddlers approach primary school pupil Business S'pore's economic resilience will face headwinds in second half of 2025 from tariffs, trade conflicts: MAS Athletes across swimming, open water swimming, artistic swimming, diving, high diving and water polo need to compete at a certain number of their respective World Cups and world championships in the four years before their retirement to be eligible, following which they will receive a percentage (for individual events) or a fixed sum (for team sports) of their prize earnings at these events. Consideration for the fund has begun from this year's World Cups, as the details will be shared with the national federations. Nowicki added that the programme was borne out of 'a sense of concern and obligation' to help athletes beyond their competitive careers, as well as the hope of consistent participation from the top athletes in their events. He said: 'A lot of the athletes we spoke to said that the hardest point was that year after they retired. That's when they needed some kind of parachute, and they felt like it wasn't there for them.' Asked if this fund would only help the rich get richer, he noted that this concern had been discussed, and tweaks could still be made in this pilot project. He said: 'It's something to think about. There are athletes who never earned any prize money... doing this for the love of it, and when they retire, their earnings go from zero to zero. There's probably less of an impact than someone who maybe made a little bit of prize money and all of a sudden, there's nothing. 'I think we need to protect those athletes who are just getting by, but not getting rich. And when the time comes (to retire), it's a hard hit. That's where I think the sweet spot in this is, the middle tier.' The athlete-centric conversation at the media session later moved on to the other end of the age spectrum, as to whether a pre-teen like China's Yu Zidi should be participating at international meets. According to World Aquatics regulations, the minimum age for swimmers competing at the Olympics and WCH is 14 on Dec 31 in the year of competition, the same for the World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships, although younger athletes may participate if they have at least hit the 'B' standard entry time. The age limit was imposed following the debate over Bahrain's 10-year-old Alzain Tareq swimming at the 2015 WCH. China's Yu Zidi at the women's 200m individual medley semi-final during the World Aquatics Championships on July 27. PHOTO: AFP Yu, who turns 13 in October, made the 'A' cut of the women's 200m butterfly and 200m and 400m individual medley, and was 0.06sec away from winning bronze in the 200m medley on July 28 . But she had also said in an earlier interview: 'I almost gave up swimming before the national championships last year due to exhaustion from training and studies.' This led some reporters to raise concerns whether such young swimmers should be put through such a regimen of altitude training and daily 10km pool workouts. Calling Yu a generational talent, Nowicki said: 'To be frank, I didn't think I would be having to answer the question... our 'A' standards are so tight, I didn't think that potentially a 12-year-old could have such a time. 'But I feel quite good about where we are with our safeguarding approach in our sport, I think the Aquatics Integrity Unit does a really good job. They are actively engaged and involved in it. 'We use athletes, not necessarily staff, to communicate with athletes and be there for athletes. So I feel we are taking really good measures to be available for athletes or families who believe there's a cause of concern... We feel like we are positioned to address them.' Seemingly counter-intuitively, World Aquatics rules also prevent athletes under age 14 from owning world junior records. Nowicki committed to looking into these issues, adding: 'We are dealing with something that's so exceptional that no one's ever contemplated. It's exposed a question that needs to be answered. It takes these scenarios for us to have to look and rethink interpretations of things. 'All things equal, she's a generational talent. I certainly don't want to rush the judgment on things because it's not fair for her if she is just ruled out (without a proper review).'
Qatar Tribune
2 days ago
- Sport
- Qatar Tribune
Khalil Al Jabir elected as Bureau Member of World Aquatics
Tribune News Network Doha Khalil Ibrahim Al Jabir, Executive Director of the Qatar Olympic Academy and former President of Qatar Swimming Association (QSA), has been elected as a Bureau Member of World Aquatics for the 2025–2029 term. The announcement came during the World Aquatics General Congress held on the sidelines of the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. Al Jabir, a leading figure in Qatari and Asian aquatic sports, previously served as QSA president from 2008 to 2024. His longstanding service to the sport includes being first elected to World Aquatics in 2017, followed by a key role in 2021 when he was selected at the Doha General Assembly as one of the members representing host nations of the World Championships. His re-election this year is another milestone in a distinguished career dedicated to advancing aquatic sports on a global scale. In addition to his World Aquatics responsibilities, Al Jabir also holds the position of Vice President of the Asian Aquatics Federation for the 2024–2029 term, a role he secured during the 2024 general assembly in Bangkok, Thailand. Meanwhile, QSA President Mubarak bin Ali Al Nuaimi participated in the 2025 World Aquatics General Congress in Singapore. His attendance reflects the association's continued efforts to reinforce Qatar's presence in the international sporting arena. On behalf of the Association, Al Nuaimi congratulated Al Jabir on his election and expressed confidence in his ability to represent Qatar with distinction and help shape the future of aquatic sports worldwide. The Congress also saw the election of the World Aquatics Board of Directors for the upcoming term, selecting several prominent figures tasked with leading the global governing body into its next chapter.
