History
Competitive national swimming championships were first held in 1894. Australia had swimmers at most major international swimming events since the 1896 Summer Olympics.
This interest led to the creation of the Amateur Swimming Union of Australia, the precursor to Swimming Australia, which was founded in 1909 at a meeting of state swimming representatives at the Sports Club on Hunter Street in Sydney's CBD. There they established a charter which included the key features of the promotion of uniformity of rules and regulations across Australia; the adjudication all matters of disputes between affiliated associations; the control and management of swimmers visiting Australia; the control and management of Australian representatives in any contest of international nature; and control the recognition of all "best on record" performances.
Within a short time the Amateur Swimming Union of Australia had extended its charter to include negotiation with the recently formed International Swimming Federation (Fédération Internationale de Natation, FINA).
James Taylor was the foundation president and served for the first 35 years of the body's existence from 1909 to 1944.
During 1985, under a new corporate structure, the Amateur Swimming Union of Australia was incorporated in the Australian Capital Territory and became Australian Swimming Inc.
On 1 October 2004, Australian Swimming became a company limited by guarantee and changed its name to Swimming Australia Ltd. Glenn Tasker served as the Chief Executive Officer until June 2008 (this position is vacant) and the organisation's headquarters is located at Unit 12, 7 Beissel Street, Belconnen, ACT. Australia won 69 metals in the 2004 Olympics.
Read more about this topic: Swimming Australia
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