Waterpolo was played in Malta long before it was officially organised and launched as a sport in 1925 when the then Amateur Swimming Association was set-up just prior to Malta’s participation in the Amsterdam Olympics of 1928. The Amateur Swimming Association changed its name to Aquatic Sports Association in 2000.
The association’s objectives have remained the same throughout these years and continue to be the promotion and to encourage the development of water polo and swimming in Malta. The Headquarters of the Association are at the National Swimming Pool Complex, Tal-Qroqq
The association’s present principal officials are Dr Austin Sammut as president, Remy Damato as General Secretary and Edgar Rizzo as the Treasurer and it is affiliated with the COMEN, LEN and FINA. The ASA is also affiliated with the Malta Olympic Committee and the KMS (Kunsill Malti ghal-Isport)
Waterpolo
The Association organises three main competitions during the year which are the Winter and Summer leagues and the Knock-out Competitions. There are nine teams which take part in these competitions.
The ASA National Water Polo Team participated in the European B Water Polo Championships held in Lugano last September and obtained excellent results against such teams as Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, Georgia and Great Britain.
The team led by National Coach Sergio Afric managed to place 6th in the European B which, besides being a very prestigious result for our country, has also qualified Malta to participate in the Qualifying Tournament for the European Water polo Championships being held in 2010 between 30 April and 2 May.
Following this experience, Dr Austin Sammut remarked that “there is certainly scope for the retiming and restructuring of our National league and emphasis must be placed on the National team, its training schedule and our increased involvement in the international circuit.”
Swimming
Every month, the Swimming Board of the ASA holds the time trials at the National Pool, Tal-Qroqq. The pool will be brimful with activity as swimmers of all ages are present and all eager to improve their own previous best and faces beam with pride when records are broken.
These last two years, we have seen a number of old local records being broken and this augurs well for this sport. During Easter time, an International Swim Meet is always held in Malta and foreign swimmers come to take part. The swimming season ends with the National Championship which this year will be held at the beginning of July.
Swimmers also participate in competitions held abroad so that they can continue with their training and at the same time assess their levels with other swimmers coming from foreign countries such.
FISEC Games and GSSE are two important competitions for the local swimmers, especially those of the National team under the guidance of National Coach Andy Colbourn.
In December, swimmers will be going to Berlin to participate in the annual meet and after the National swimming team will go to a training camp in Italy. The 17th Easter international meet will be held between 8 and 10 April.
The GSSE Championships will next year be held in Iceland in mid June and some swimmers will also be there to represent Malta in this event. Many swimmers will be looking forward to going to the prestigious FINA World Short course championships being held in Dubai in December 2010.