The Asian Swimming Federation has revealed its six nominations for six posts in FINA, the world governing body for the sport of swimming. Kuwait’s Husain Al-Musallam gets the nomination for the coveted post of president of FINA, and China’s Jihong Zhou put her name forward for the vice-presidential candidate.
Al-Musallam has been the FINA vice-president since 2015 and has been with the FINA Bureau since 1996 as he is aiming to take over from current sitting President Julio C. Maglione of Uruguay.
Daichi Suzuki head of Japan Sports Agency
Taha Al-Kishry of Oman, Andrey Kryukov of Kazakhstan, Daichi Suzuki of Japan and Virendra Nanavati of India have all been nominated to face elections for the Bureau.
Suzuki was a well-known swimmer in his career as he scored a huge upset win in the 100 backstroke at the 1988 Olympic Games over American David Berkoff. He was selected to be inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2020 before the global pandemic forced cancellation. Suzuki is currently the head of the Japanese Swimming Federation.
A former polo player for the Soviet Union, Kryukov is Secretary General of the Kazakhstan National Sports Federation and also Vice-President of the Asia Swimming Federation (AASF). In August 2017 he was tapped by FINA to be its chief decision-maker for international water polo.
Nanavati is currently the CEO of the Swimming Federation of India and is the vice chairman of FINA’s Swimming Committee. Al-Kishry is the general supervisor of the Media Committee.
The FINA elections will take place in 2021.