MOSCOW, October 30. /TASS/. The Russian Swimming Federation (RSF) is set to convene for a reporting and election conference on October 31.

The event is expected to focus on a decision to form the Russian Aquatics Federation as a result of the merger of the RSF with the Russian Synchronized Swimming Federation, the Russian Water Polo Federation and the Russian Diving Federation.

TASS has summarized what is known about Russia’s swimming sports federations, their history and establishment.

Russia’s current swimming sports federations

There are currently four swimming bodies in Russia, which are the successors of respective federations established during Soviet times.

- The Russian Swimming Federation was established in 1991. It unites sports organizations of over 80 Russian constituent entities. Vladimir Salnikov, himself a four-time Olympic champion, has served as the president of the Russian Swimming Federation since 2010.

- The Russian Synchronized Swimming Federation was established in 1990 and unites sports organizations of roughly 40 Russian regions. Olympic Champion Olga Brusnikina has served as the federation’s president since 2022.

- The Russian Water Polo Federation was established in 1991, uniting organizations from over 20 Russian constituent entities. Olympic Champion Yevgeny Sharonov has served as the federation’s executive director since 2022.

- The Russian Diving Federation was established in 1990 and unites sports organizations from over 15 Russian regions. Stanislav Druzhinin is the federation’s president, first elected in 2021.

History of Russian water sports federations’ unification

The Russian swimming federations used to function as autonomous and independent from each other until 2024. For comparison, the world’s governing body of swimming sports, World Aquatics, is a single organization today that oversees six sports: swimming, synchronized swimming, water polo, diving, open water swimming and extreme high diving.

On October 1, 2024, President of the Russian Swimming Federation Vladimir Salnikov announced a decision to unify all Russian sports swimming federations into a single body. He noted at that time "that this measure could be a logical continuation of the integration processes which started following the unification of the gymnastics federations [in October 2024]," adding that this move would "provide for stronger and more coordinated structure that can effectively develop our sporting disciplines."

According to Salnikov, the unification of federations will contribute not only to the consolidation of resources and simplification of administrative procedures, but will also improve the quality of training and competition processes.

Russian Water Polo Federation President Sharonov said earlier he hoped that the merger "will give a new impetus to the development of water polo." Druzhinin, the chief of the Russian Diving Federation noted that it "would only be for the benefit" and "will be in line with international trends, and will promote further our communications with the World Aquatics." Olga Brusnikina, President of the FSPR, also stated that the merger was the best thing. Brusnikina, the Russian Synchronized Swimming Federation, also pointed out the feasibility of unifying.

Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev announced on October 1 his support for the initiative to unify the country’s federations of water sports. The minister stated that such a move "would help achieve better results, primarily in the development of children's and youth sports, and will increase popularity among the people."