I remain convinced that when international and national leadership teams come together as a team - around a clear vision and a clear plan – everything is possible. As 2021 draws to a close, the FINA Family found itself in Abu Dhabi for a combination of three events that reinforced this conviction.

For six days, we enjoyed the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 metres), where world and championship records demonstrated the amazing ways in which our athletes and their support teams have continued to improve despite the hardships of the last two years. We also experienced the inaugural FINA Aquatics Festival, which showcased athletes from other disciplines including diving and open water swimming alongside their team mates in the pool.

By taking the action and excitement outside the arena, we also saw better engagement with the local community. Clustering events together with a festival atmosphere is one way that FINA is already moving towards a near future where I have no doubt we will see multidisciplinary competitions that have a wide appeal. This format, with accessible entertainment and family activities, is just what is needed to ease back into sport all those who have been sidelined by the pandemic. We never forget that swimming has a unique identity that combines sport, recreational activity and vital life skill.

Alongside the competitions and fan engagement in Abu Dhabi, FINA held an Extraordinary Congress. I was very pleased to experience the warm welcome given to the reforms we started working on as soon as I was elected in June. It was so encouraging to have such an overwhelming vote of support, and to have genuine interest from the floor in the work of the Reform Committee. FINA is now set on a path towards fundamental improvements in our governance, in the ways fairness can be ensured throughout aquatic sport and so much more. The importance of establishing an effective independent Aquatics Integrity Unit cannot be understated.

During the Congress and throughout our time in Abu Dhabi, however, I was reminded of something well known to our best-performing coaches. For a team to enjoy sustained success, it must have something that transcends its leaders, its members and its supporters. To maintain the highest performance, a team must have the right culture.

As a leader, I am very conscious of the need to go beyond individual measures or even packages of measures, by facilitating a wider change for the better in FINA's culture. That is why I was so excited to notice so many curious and informed discussions taking place about our better future, and how to achieve it. These discussions took place everywhere during our events: from the breakfast table to the gala dinner table. From the Congress hall to the changing rooms. A common characteristic of these exchanges of ideas was what I would describe as a restless willingness to improve - the same type of motivation that drives our champions.

FINA’s work has been made so much stronger by the meaningful ways we have ensured that our athletes and external experts are also a big part of the conversation. And I am determined that this should continue. The conversations in Abu Dhabi were also a very encouraging sign of how FINA is now well into a phase of implementing significant change while also defining a further set of changes, as we move towards constant improvement. The first wave of this improvement will include the reforms to our constitution that will go before our Member Federations in Fukuoka.

Next year in Japan, we will once again mix the business of reform with the pleasure of providing athletes with remarkable opportunities to compete at the very highest standard. There is a new generation of aquatics talent rising. We know that for them to achieve their full potential, we must do the same. I am very proud of the start we have made together. Now is the time for us to hit our race pace!