In the second part of our series on the future of FINA as the international governing body considers constitutional change at an extraordinary Congress in Shanghai this July, we consider an opportunity lost. The list of proposals to be voted on in China is significant not only in terms of what has been thrown into the pot but in terms of what has been left out: coaches. At a time when FINA's own proposals include a non-voting position for an athlete on the Bureau, coaches have been snubbed by those who run the sport.

A proposal calling for a coach to be added to the Bureau was presented to the ruling group by USA Swimming and supportive federations in February. The vote was lost 17 to 4. Old habits die hard. However, significant among the four 'yes' votes was the name of the top man, FINA President Julio Maglione, who has made no secret of his admiration for the professional men and women who spend their lives working at the coal face of the sport developing and honing the stars of the show and serving as guardians to generations of children. 

Despite the backing of the president, the majority of those who fill the seats at the top table consider coaches unworthy of being invited to the top table to provide insight and guidance on how aquatic sports might be governed. We consider the implications in part 2 of our series.

Today marks the 90th Birthday of a coaching legend, Australian Forbes Carlile, graduate physiologist, lecturer at the University of Sydney, pioneer in scientific training and the pace clock, the first swimming author  to deal with the concept of tapering, a term originated by Carlile and Professor Frank Cotton. Many happy returns of the day to a man whose journey through the world of swimming is more than pertinent to the debate over the role of coaches when it comes to who has a say in the governance of the sport.

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