Canada Artistic Swimming (CAS) is pleased to support Dr. Margo Mountjoy as the candidate for the upcoming election as the FINA Vice President for the Americas. The position would place her on the FINA Executive, and give Canada a strong voice in the governance of aquatic sports at the international level.
“Dr. Mountjoy is such a qualified candidate, CAS fully endorses her as our selection to be the FINA Vice President for the Americas,” said Judi Enns Bradette, Chair of the CAS Board. “Her experience at the highest level of sport, combined with her integrity and deep desire to move aquatic sports forward with improvements for athletes and in the governance structure, makes her the ideal person to bring a strong, renewed vision to all of the aquatic disciplines.”
Despite Canada’s long history of hosting aquatic events, and significant contributions to the sport, no Canadian has ever served as a FINA Vice-President. Dr. Mountjoy is hoping to be the first and brings a wide range of international sport experience to the role. She is a FINA Bureau member who until recently was the sole female on FINA’s 22-member Bureau. She has served as the Union Americana de Natacion (UANA) Vice President since 2015.
A retired elite artistic swimmer, she is now a professor in sports medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, and is also the Clinical and Academic Lead of the Health and Performance Centre at the University of Guelph where she has focussed her clinical practice on elite athlete health care.
She is highly regarded in the sports medicine field and has been a member of the IOC Medical Commission (Games Group) since 2005. She has an extensive history of involvement in sport, including the ASOIF Medical + Scientific Group, as well as WADA and the FINA “Swimming for All” program.
Dr. Mountjoy believes UANA is at an important decision point. “We must decide whether to continue with the past or to take a bold step forward for the future. It is time for change.” Herplatform for the position is build around five key concepts:
Leadership – developing and implementing a system to facilitate the exchange of new ideas and achieve open communication;
Development – using technology and innovation to further develop all six disciplines;
Olympic Games strategy – to maximize opportunities for aquatic athletes to participate in the Olympic Games, specifically where underrepresented by number or gender;
Fiscal responsibility – investing in UANA member Federations to enhance athlete opportunity and success;
Governance – increasing the UANA voice and influence at the FINA level by strategically targeting and promoting experts from within to serve on FINA Committees.
The election for Vice-President of the Americas will take place on August 5th in Lima, Peru during the Pan American Games. The Americas is the second largest continental group in FINA with 44 member countries.
To see Dr. Margo Mountjoy’s full bio and experience, visit her LinkedIn profile here.