Amateur Swimming Association

The Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) was a British sports organization that governed amateur swimming. It was founded in London in 1869 as the Metropolitan Swimming Clubs and eventually became the ASA, the governing body for British amateur swimming. The ASA played a role in the history of organized swimming, which dates back to ancient civilizations but gained significant popularity in the 19th century. The first swimming organization was formed in Britain in 1837, and the first swimming championship was held in Australia in 1846. National swimming federations were established in several European countries between 1882 and 1889, and the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) organized swimming nationally in the United States in 1888. The Fédération Internationale de Natation Amateur (FINA), now World Aquatics, was founded in 1909.1