Swimming Queensland has cited concerns around centralisation of control were behind its lone dissenting vote against a change to Swimming Australia’s constitution, after a threat of expulsion from World Aquatics forced the sport to rush through reform in a matter of weeks.
In a special general meeting on Friday, Swimming Australia’s membership – comprising mostly of state federations – voted eight-to-one in favour of an amended constitution that appeased the world governing body.
Australia beat China and the USA to finish on top of the medal tally at the World Swimming Championships in August, but despite this success, World Aquatics demanded Swimming Australia undergo constitutional reform, with a deadline of October, to address high turnover in executives in recent years.
Kevin Hasemann, chief executive of Swimming Queensland, said on Monday the changes demanded by World Aquatics were unnecessary. “I don’t think any of us could ever really believe that the action that was threatened by World Aquatics was proportionate, it clearly wasn’t,” he said.
The new model means members such as Swimming Queensland directly elect a lower proportion of the board: from seven out of nine directors previously, to five out of 11. It also increased the number of member votes from nine to at least 21, but it’s not yet clear on how these rights will be apportioned.
Swimming Queensland was the only organisation among the current membership of nine to vote against reform. On Monday, Hasemann took to radio and issued a press release in a bid to explain his organisation’s opposition.
“We’ve demonstrated this system [the current constitution] can work brilliantly,” he told ABC radio. “Our view is that what’s actually gone wrong with Swimming Australia is that in recent times the people who filled the president and CEO [roles] haven’t met the standard required. If they get that bit right, they’ll get the rest right.”
The agreement struck was based on a proposal developed in September, but amended after the state members voted against the initial model of reform. A second draft with six additional changes – developed in consultation with World Aquatics, the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and the members – was agreed late on Friday. But it did not meet the expectations of all parties.
The ASC issued a release after the vote congratulating Swimming Australia but noting: “As a result of the constitutional changes, Swimming Australia will move closer towards meeting the governance maturity standards expected for a tier one Commonwealth funded sport.”
The tensions have been heightened by Swimming Queensland’s growing importance to Australia’s performance in the pool. Athletes affiliated with Swimming Queensland won almost three quarters of medals won by Australians at the Tokyo Olympics. Redcliffe’s Kaylee McKeown secured a $158,000 bonus over the weekend for being named the overall World Cup winner, after a string of victories in recent events in Berlin, Athens and Budapest.
Hasemann said the new makeup of the Swimming Australia board risked marginalising grassroots swimming because a majority of directors will now be unelected. “Too great a proportion of appointed directors can easily result in a board no longer being representative of active participants in the sport or activity,” he said. “It’s hard to see what benefit grassroots swimming will derive from this new structure.”
The Swimming Queensland chief executive made reference to the financial support of Gina Rinehart in his press release, and has previously cited a lack of funding from government for grassroots as an impediment to elite success.
Rinehart has given swimmers $40m to meet their training and living expenses in the decade to 2022 and she has made a pledge to continue the payments until the 2032 Olympics. Her commitment was quoted at “over $3m” per year in Swimming Queensland’s annual report in July, but Hasemann confirmed on Monday it had now risen to “nearly $5m per annum”.
Rinehart was named Swimming Queensland’s principal partner earlier this year, helping the organisation cover a range of coaching and travel expenses. The quantum of that sponsorship is commercial-in-confidence. Revenue at the organisation increased by approximately $700,000 between the 2022 and 2023 financial years, mostly attributed to sponsorship and administrative services, according to its annual report.
