Swimming Australia president Chris Fydler suspended for eight months

“Chris Fydler abused his position as interim chairman to persuade the Swimming Australia board to vote on an issue on a clearly false basis, directing the attention of Swimming Australia board members to a single document and misleading them into suggesting that no other evidence was available,” Kamrau-Fiedler wrote.

Fydler was contacted for comment through Swimming Australia and his lawyer Darren Kane, who writes an occasional column for this imprint.

The AQUI report cited management problems by World Aquatics involving SA in 2024, which were later resolved in a settlement agreement.

“In this regard, it appears that some of Swimming Australia’s board members were unhappy with certain positions taken by Mr Dunn at the time regarding governance issues and negotiations with World Aquatics. In particular, some felt that Mr Dunn was liaising too closely with World Aquatics rather than Swimming Australia. This was communicated to Mr Dunn. [Fydler]” said the report.

The report revealed Fydler requested extra time from World Aquatics to gather a quorum of the SA board to approve Australia’s candidacy for the World Aquatics role in March last year.

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Two days later, Fydler, who became interim president, said there was no evidence that Dunn had been nominated for the post.

In April, Dunn met with Fydler and reconfirmed that his candidacy had previously been signed by former SA interim co-president Hayden Collins and that no objections had been raised. He also said that his candidacy will be approved by World Aquatics in 2024.

But it turns out there was a typo in the report that may have contributed to the confusion.

A review by Australian Sports Commission board observer Matthew Treglown found that “the initial board decision explicitly mentioned Matt Dunn’s candidacy for the Oceania Aquatics board seat, but did not mention his candidacy for the World Aquatics Board.” However, on the same day, the Swimming Australia president submitted nominations for both positions”.

Regardless, Fydler told Dunn by phone that he was “in trouble because some of Swimming Australia’s board members were unhappy with the role”. [Dunn] When researched by World Aquatics, Swimming Australia’s management issues were addressed.

Fydler then circulated two voting resolutions to the SA board, claiming that votes from a year ago did not carry weight for either role Dunn wanted. A re-vote was held and Dunn’s roles were rejected. Four board members voted against, one voted in favor, one abstained and three members did not participate in the vote.

However, Dunn already had the support of other national federations.

World Aquatics then asked AQUI to investigate.

Fydler argued at the hearing before the judicial branch that the charge should be dismissed. He added that Dunn was never formally nominated, and suggested the previous president “may have mistakenly completed the Oceania Aquatics nomination form in a way that implied a nomination for World Aquatics.”

Fydler also argued that he was guided by advice from the Australian Sports Commission.

But arbitrator Raymond Hack found that Dunn “was, in fact, validly nominated for both positions in April 2024.”

In his summary, Hack harshly criticized Fydler’s behavior.

“A senior official, acting with integrity, fairness and impartiality, would present the full picture to the board and seek clarification without mischaracterizing the available material,” Hack said.

“Instead, the answer [Fydler] It presented a misleadingly incomplete narrative and caused the board to deliberate under false assumptions. Such behavior is objectively incompatible with the expected duty of transparency and honesty…”

Fydler will not be able to resume senior duties until August. Vice-president Alice Williams and board member Susan Smith share the interim chairmanship of SA.

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