Surfing Chief Aguerre Re-elected

(ATR)Fernando Aguerre will continue to oversee preparations for surfing's debut at the Tokyo Olympics after being re-elected president of the International Surfing Association.

Aguerre was unopposed in Sunday's presidential election at the ISA's annual meeting, which was held on the sidelines of the 2018 UR ISA World Surfing Games in Tahara, Japan.

Aguerre, who successfully spearheaded surfing's campaign to join the Olympics, is starting his ninth term as ISA president; he was first elected in 1994.

Thanking ISA members, Aguerre said: "I am as passionate for surfing and the ISA as I was when I first started. I am honored to be able to continue to lead this organization and to dedicate my time and efforts to this worthy cause as we look ahead to a bright future.

"The sport of surfing and the ISA have come so far since I first took on this challenge and commitment. We have taken the sport to places that we never thought imaginable, all the way to the Olympic Games. But we also seen huge growth in the ISA, bringing surfing to new corners of the globe, to non-traditional surfing nations, giving children hope and a dream that they had never fathomed," he said.

"As one man, I am nothing, but with the great work of friends and supporters from around the world, we have been able to grow and develop surfing as a true force for a better world. I am excited to see where we can take the sport together, all the way to Tokyo 2020 and well beyond."

At the meeting, Barbara Kendall of New Zealand and Casper Steinfath of Denmark were also re-elected as ISA vice presidents.

Kendall, an Olympic gold medalist and three-time Olympian in windsurfing, is also a former IOC member and current chair of the Association of National Olympic Committees Athletes Commission.

Steinfath, a four-time ISA world champion in standup paddle racing and current professional athlete, is also member of the ISA Athletes Commission and a leading advocate for athletes in the global SUP community.

Sweeping reforms to the ISA constitution were also rubberstamped at the meeting.

The ISA said they created "a more modern document in line with contemporary standards of good governance in the Olympic movement". Key revisions were made on transparency, integrity and institutional athlete involvement. The executive committee was expanded from five to eight members, including the chair of the athletes’ commission, currently Justine Dupont of France.

Women make up nearly 40 percent of the ISA executive body, well above the IOC-mandated standard.

Other key changes in the newly ratified ISA constitution include: expanded definition of purposes, levels, and types of ISA members as well as the process for member recognition; addition, definition and terms of reference of the ISA Athletes’ Commission including provision for the election of athletes by their peers at the World Surfing Games starting in 2021; and confirmation of the ISA executive director as ex-officio, non-voting member of the executive committee.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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