N O I T A R E D E F G N I M M I W S A I S A ACTIVITY REPORT 2019 THE YEAR IN REVIEW www, asiaswimmingfederation.org ABOUT A A S F Asia Swimming Federation (AASF) is the governing body of aquatic sports in Asia, duly recognized by the Olympic Council of Asia and Fédération internationale de natation. AASF was founded in 1978 in Bangkok; and currently has its administrative headquarters in Muscat, Oman headed by HE Sheikh Khalid B. Al Sabah as the President and Mr. Taha Sulaiman Al Kishry, as its Secretary-General. AASF administers competition and development in all five aquatic disciplines: Swimming, Open Water Swimming, Diving, Water Polo and Artistic Swimming. Its mission is to elevate the importance and level of Aquatics in the continent by organizing championships, activities and events which encourages the participation of its 45 National Federation members. 13th AASF General Congress Jakarta, Indonesia M I S S I O N To promote and develop aquatic sports in all possible regards throughout the Asian continent. V I S I O N To inspire and enable our members to achieve excellence in all disciplines of aquatic sports . P R E S I D E N T ' S F O R E W O R D I am a firm believer that we need good people to face up to the challenges and achieve success. As I review the details of this report, it s clear that the accomplishments recounted here are the result of extraordinary teamwork by AASF’s most important asset, i.e. its people. The bureau members, technical committees, and most importantly, our national federations’ members; each plays a valued part in moving AASF forward. This report documents a year’s worth of progress for AASF. I am exceptionally proud that growth of our federation occurred with continued improvement in H E S H E I K H K H A L I D A L S A B A H each aquatic discipline. A A S F P r e s i d e n t The progress in the area of aquatic sports in the Olympics through the international efforts made by FINA and its continental organizations provides tangible representation of our remarkable trajectory. It also underlines one of the key challenges of coping with our success in providing adequate venues for our athletes t enable them to exhibit their skills and improve their craft. AASF demonstrates its values as an engine that spurs growth and advancement in aquatics in Asia and its nations. Thus, we are committed to setting many more eventful moments and milestones in the years to come. Developing aquatic sports through organizing events around Asia is a key focus for AASF. With passion and dedication. We work tirelessly to bring swimming, diving, water polo, artistic swimming and open water swimming to local populations, knowing better that anyone what the athletes need and ensuring that the facilities are in line with the international standards. In between the various competitions that filled our calendar, the National Federations are busy on ground, S E C R E T A R Y - G E N E R A L ' S working for the good of the sport. The 45 National Federations are not F O R E W O R D only important to AASF; they are the reason why we exist and we continually strive to develop the sports that we all love. You may rest assured: we know that AASF is pleased to present the there is still much to be done. This is annual Activity Report covering just the beginning. Now it is up to our events in 2019. It is the us, the aquatic community, to write complete and unspoilt reflection of the next chapter. what we have seen and how we have reacted to it. We owe this absolute transparency to our member federations. It is of many T A H A S U L A I M A N A L K I S H R Y oaths promises we have embraced. A A S F , S e c r e t a r y G e n e r a l AASF ACTIVITY REPORT C O N T E N T S 9th Asian Open Water 01 Swimming Championships 02 8th Asian Diving Cup 10th Asian Age Group 03 Championships 04 Looking Forward 9th Asian Open Water 01 Swimming Championships K U W A I T R E P O R T O N T H E 9 T H A S I A N O P E N W A T E R S W I M M I N G C H A M P I O N S H I P By: Mr. Ronnie Wong (HKG) Chairman, AASF TOWSC The 9th Asian Open Water Swimming Championship 2018 was successfully held from 19-21 April 2019 in Kuwait. A total of 52 participants from 13 Asian countries took part in 4 different events (men 5km & 10km and women 5km & 10km), for which both the 10km men and 10km women events served also as the continental qualifying events for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games Marathon Swimming events. Accommodation The hotel for officials (The Marina Hotel) is only 5 minutes walking distance from the venue and the hotel which accommodated all teams (Grand Hotel) is only 5 minutes by car. Site Inspection and Pre-Competition Meetings In the morning of 18th April 2019 at around 10am, a site inspection was done by the undersigned and 3 ITOs (from Italy, Oman and UAE) together with the 1st Vice President of FINA, Mr. Husain AL MUSALLAM, and the local organizers’ representative. However, during our site visit, the field of play was still under preparation. In order to get use to the venue and the competition course, some teams’ swimmers were training even though without a fully set up venue and no lifeguard was on duty. Swimmers were also arranged to train at a nearby swimming pool. The Team Managers meeting chaired by the undersigned was carried out in the afternoon of 18th April 2019, where all the team managers participated. The meeting was very well organized with power points to explain details of FOP and different protocols and procedures. The starting format to be a water start, and the starting time of both day’s events were moved forward had been agreed by all participating teams. Despite no medical/doping officers were present at the Team Managers meeting, they reported to the venue on time on the date of competition and carried out the doping responsibility. he Technical Meeting with all ITO’s and NTOs of the competition was carried out right after the Team Mangers meeting, because all officials were Arabic speaking, Abudlmonem AL ALAWI from Oman was assigned to conduct the meeting. Since most official have attended Open Water Clinic conducted by Abudlmonem, who is an experienced tutor in that area, the meeting went very smoothly and they have demonstrated their ability and capability in the actual officiating in the following 2 days’ competitions. Races The 5km women and 5km men events of the Championships were held on the first day of the competition on 19th April 2019, registration of the women 5km event started at 7am and the races started on time at 9am, whereas the 5km men events started at 1400hrs. All preparation such as chief referee’s final briefing; water temperature measurement (from 24.5 to 24.9 degree) and assignment of technical officials were all done properly. 20th April 2019 was a rest day for all swimmers. For race day 2 (21 April 2019), according to FINA’s decision, both the women and men’s 10km events have been treat as the Tokyo Olympic Marathon Swimming qualify event. Again, the pre- competition procedures were done properly which all athletes handlers assigned to their feeding boat with their pole checked prior to their departure for the feeding positions. Because of the rough sea condition, the start the women 10km event was delayed by 1 hour, from 9am to10am. Men 10km event which is also the continental qualifying events for 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, started about 15 minutes after the first batch of female swimmers completed their last laps and passed buoy number one. Observation and recommendations Considering it is Kuwait's first time organizing this type of international Open Water Swimming Championships, the organization is considered satisfactory. However, the undersigned observed that the course set up has room for improvement, such as the triangular shaped course can be changed to a rectangular shape; distance for course loop can be increased to 1.66km instead of the existing 1.00km. The wave and tidal condition at the beach where the competition took place making the venue set up difficult, because of the above points, the swimmers’ performance were affected. Having observed the organization of 9th Asian Open Water Swimming Championships, the undersigned thinks that the existing site’s is not the best alternative for open water competition. Thus, the Organizing Committee has taken the undersigned and other ITO, who is also a FINA TOWSC member, Mr. Andrea Prayer to inspect another venue for the future international open water competition site to which we find its was desirable to be a possible future FINA Open Water World Cup event. 8th Asian Diving Cup 02 K U A L A L U M P U R R E P O R T O N T H E 8 T H A S I A N D I V I N G C U P By: Ms.