Swimming Australia faces expulsion from world swimming, Gina Rinehart, net worth, latest, updates

D-day has arrived for Swimming Australia and the organization faces expulsion from world swimming.

As the governing body prepares for a special general meeting on Friday, the sport has once again been rocked by extraordinary allegations surrounding Australia’s richest woman, Gina Rinehart, whose net worth is estimated at 37.4 billion of dollars.

News Corp first reported that Rinehart’s decision to move away from funding the governing body – to focus instead on payments made directly to individual athletes – had created a gaping hole from which the sport could not recover.

It was revealed in August that the mining magnate had pumped a whopping $60 million of his estimated $37.1 billion fortune into various Australian Olympic teams, including swimming, volleyball and rowing . It’s no secret that the Australian swim team has always been his favorite.

She was poolside at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Japan in July as the Australian team blew the Americans out of the water with 13 gold medals.

Australian star Shayna Jack gave a special thanks to Rinehart on the pool deck after the Australian mixed 4x100m freestyle relay team won gold.

“We couldn’t be more proud and to have Gina in the crowd supporting us is incredible,” she told Channel 9.

Rinehart and her mining company Hancock Prospecting have reportedly stopped all payments for diamonds after sensationally quitting Australian netball following the sport’s $15 million sponsorship storm.

However, new details of its expanding sponsorship program have been revealed by Code Sport, with 92 elite swimmers now receiving funding through the Hancock Prospective Swimmer Support Scheme.

The dark side of Rinehart’s decision to focus on financial support of individual athletes is that Swimming Australia has been left with a yawning $7 million sponsorship deficit since Rinehart’s decision to leave the governing body two years ago.

The 69-year-old’s withdrawal means Swimming Australia’s sponsorship revenue has fallen from $10 million a year to $3 million a year.

It’s just one of several shocking revelations that have rocked Swimming Australia in the run-up to Friday’s meeting.

According to the report, Rinehart took issue with what she claimed was a lack of transparency regarding her financial contributions ending up in the hands of individual athletes.

It was reported that Rinehart was informed that at least one athlete had been unable to access financial support. Swimming Australia responded by saying the situation was a mix-up with the swimmer failing to submit an invoice.

Despite his money being the lifeblood of the sport in recent years, it has been suggested that Rinehart has repeatedly been denied a place at the table at Swimming Australia board meetings – or a meaningful voice among the decision-makers of the organization.

These voices will debate a major reform aimed at shaking up the sport on Friday during the extraordinary general assembly.

Swimming Australia called the meeting in August when World Aquatics found the organization was in breach of the world swimming body’s constitution.

Swimming Australia has been given 90 days to get its affairs in order or face being kicked out of major events, which could leave Australian swimmers competing under a neutral flag at international events.

World Aquatics has demanded a change at the top of Swimming Australia, suggesting swimmers themselves have no say in the governance of the sport.

Amendments to Swimming Australia’s constitution demanded by World Aquatics include a move to make the organization “more representative and inclusive of its athletes”.

World Aquatics is also said to have concerns about how the sport has been managed in recent years due to high turnover of directors and senior staff.

Swimming Australia has had four different chief executives since 2017.

If an agreement on constitutional reform cannot be reached on Friday, Swimming Australia will find itself on the brink of anarchy.

— You can read full details of the Rinehart claims in The Courier-Mail