United States Aquatic Sports (USAS) is the national federation for aquatic sports which represents the United States in FINA

International Swimming Federation

Fédération Internationale de Natation is the International Federation recognized by the International Olympic Committee for administering international competition in the aquatic sports...

 (Fédération Internationale de Natation). Since by U.S. law and FINA regulations, the United States must have only one national federation for itself to FINA, United States Aquatic Sports has served as the unifying body for the sports since 1980. Five separate national governing bodies (NGBs) make up USAS: USA Swimming

USA Swimming

USA Swimming is the national governing body for competitive swimming in the United States. It is charged with selecting the United States Olympic Swimming team and any other teams which officially represent the United States, as well as the overall organization and operation of the sport within the...

, USA Diving

USA Diving

USA Diving, Inc. is the national governing body of diving in the United States as recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee and is a member of United States Aquatic Sports Inc., the United States' member of FINA ....

, United States Synchronized Swimming, USA Water Polo, and United States Masters Swimming

United States Masters Swimming

Masters swimming is an organized program of swimming for adults. U.S. Masters Swimming, founded in 1970, is a non-profit membership national governing body. The program began when the first National Masters Swimming Championships were held on May 2, 1970 at the Amarillo Aquatic Club pool. Captain...

. Of the five, only United States Masters Swimming (USMS) is not a member of the United States Olympic Committee

United States Olympic Committee

The United States Olympic Committee is a non-profit organization that serves as the National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee for the United States and coordinates the relationship between the United States Anti-Doping Agency and the World Anti-Doping Agency and various...

 (USMS's main aim is adult swimming, exclusive of Olympic-swimming which is the domain of USA Swimming).

United States Aquatic Sports plays a very minor role in representation, and while USAS is the titular member federation, the NGBs play de facto roles in making decisions about participation in international competition and hosting (e.g., USAS was the official host of the 2006 FINA World Masters Championships held at Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

, but most of the support to the organizing committee was provided by USMS). Ostensibly, USAS will "sign off" on the selections of an NGB's delegation to an international competition (whether hosted by the IOC

International Olympic Committee

The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...

, FINA, or ASUA

Amateur Swimming Union of the Americas

The Amateur Swimming Union of the Americas is the swimming continental association for the Americas...

).

USAS hosts an annual convention where the five NGBs meet, as well; currently this meeting also includes the annual conventions for all but water polo--who is in-season at the time, and instead holds its annual convention at another time of the year. The reasoning behind this is to allow the NGBs to save money on their national conventions and to allow collaboration between the NGBs on common issues of interest. USAS meetings are also held at the time.

United States Aquatic Sports Convention locations

• 1991: Louisville, Kentucky
• 1992:
• 1993:
• '199:
• 1995:
• 1996: Orlando, Florida
• 1997: San Diego, California
• 1998: Cincinnati, Ohio
• 1999: San Diego, California
• 2000: Kissimmee, Florida
• 2001: Dearborn, Michigan

• 2002: Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
• 2003: San Diego, California
• 2004: Orlando, Florida
• 2005: Greensboro, North Carolina
• 2006: Dearborn, Michigan (September 10-17)
• 2007: Anaheim, California (September 24-30)
• 2008: Atlanta, Georgia (September 22-28)
• 2009: Rosemont, Illinois (September 13-20)
• 2010: Dallas, Texas (September 12-19)

External links

• United States Aquatic Sports official website
• USA Water Polo official website