London witnessed the birth of the Federation on July 19, 1908, and Lausanne has been the home base of FINA since its first permanent office was established in 1986. The FINA headquarters made a brief move to Barcelona, Spain, from 1989 to 1992, before returning to Lausanne after the 1992 Olympics in Spain.

Prior to the creation of its headquarters, FINA administration mostly took place in conjunction with the Federations’ regular Congresses, Bureau and Committee meetings, wherever they were being held, often depending on the nationalities of those in office and the geographic locations of new FINA-affiliated National Member Federations.

However, the growing popularity of aquatic sports, which has generated massive FINA development since about the time of its 50th anniversary, necessitated an increase in the number of people involved with FINA administration and the establishment of a permanent office. Consequently, the number of staff at FINA headquarters has also continued to expand to meet the rising demands involved with staging modern international aquatics competitions.

FINA’s headquarters are based in Lausanne, Switzerland, where a multinational staff runs all core operations with regards to each FINA discipline, marketing and communication plans, anti-doping programmes and development policies under the management of Executive Director Cornel Marculescu.