This week, at the meeting of the FINA (International Swimming Federation) in Cancun, Mexico, was approved the membership of Haiti as 204th adhering countries.

Haiti is the second new federation of the Caribbean region have been added by FINA in the last year, after Curacao last year.

The Federation of Haiti, the Haitian Swimming Association and Rescue (ASHANASA) was founded in 1994 when the government realized that there was a huge problem of drowning in the country.

Recall that in 2013 the ASHANASA was affiliated with the International Life Saving Federation (ILS) becoming one of the 170 member countries.

Dr. Evenel Mervilus, President of ASHANASA, together with the executive members and its international partners, is committed to promoting swimming across the national territory "For this quite ambitious programs are already developed and will soon be implemented under the supervision of experts in swimming and rescue."

"Swimming is considered as one of the most complete sports disciplines [...] Furthermore, swimming can be learned and practiced at any age, and this whatever the physical conditions of the individual. At the ASHANASA, we will make every effort to incorporate all rescue operations to save lives or prevent drownings in Haiti. It is not normal to live on an island and only a few people know how to swim [...]"

In its plan, the Haitian Association, together with the President of the International Federation of Rescue, will begin to train not only rescue agents for our beaches, hotels and seaports, but also prepare athletes to represent Haiti at different sporting events such as the Francophonie Games Centre, America and the Caribbean, those of Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) and finally the Olympics.

Recall that Haiti has only sent in its history, one swimmer in the Olympic Games [Atlanta 1996] Alain Sergile, specializes in the 100 m butterfly, who finished 56th out of 58 in 58 seconds and 23 hundredths...

Learn more about ASHANASA :

In Haiti people live on an island where three quarters of our earth is covered with water. Only a few people know how to swim. In 1994, a group of citizens of Haiti under the auspices of Haitian Olympic Committee founded the Haitian Association Swimming and Rescue (ASHANASA).

The purpose of the Association is to save lives and promote Swimming in Haiti. The association believes in the quote of Roberto Clemente "If you have a chance to help others and not do it, you are wasting your time on this earth."

BF/ HaitiLibre