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“Chris Fydler abused his position as interim chair to induce the board of Swimming Australia to vote on a matter on an obviously incorrect basis, diverting the attention of the members of the board of Swimming Australia to one single document, and misleading them, arguing the non-existence of any other evidence,” Kamrau-Fiedler wrote.
Fydler was contacted for comment through Swimming Australia and his lawyer, Darren Kane, who is an occasional columnist with this masthead.
The AQUI report referenced governance issues raised by World Aquatics in 2024 involving SA, which were later resolved with a settlement agreement.
Fydler pictured at the MCG ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, for which he was Australia’s deputy chef de mission.Credit: Getty Images
“In this context, it seems that some board members of Swimming Australia at the time were dissatisfied with certain positions taken by Mr Dunn regarding the governance issues and negotiations with World Aquatics. Specifically, some of them felt that Mr Dunn was aligning too closely with World Aquatics rather than with Swimming Australia. This was communicated to Mr Dunn by [Fydler],” the report said.
The report found Fydler had in March last year sought extra time from World Aquatics to convene a quorum of the SA board to confirm Australia’s nominations for the World Aquatics role.
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Two days later, Fydler – who was interim chair – said he had no evidence Dunn had been nominated for the role.
In April, Dunn met with Fydler, and reaffirmed his nomination had been signed earlier by former interim SA co-chair Hayden Collins, and no objections had been raised. He also said his nomination had been approved by World Aquatics in 2024.
However, the report found there had been a clerical error, which could have contributed to the confusion.
A review by Matthew Treglown, a board observer of the Australian Sports Commission, found that “the initial board resolution explicitly referred to Matt Dunn’s nomination as a board member of Oceania Aquatics but did not mention a nomination to the World Aquatics Board. Nonetheless, on the same day, the president of Swimming Australia had submitted a nomination for both positions”.
Fydler, regardless, told Dunn by phone that he “was in trouble because some of the board members of Swimming Australia were not happy with the position he [Dunn] took in relation to the governance issues of Swimming Australia” when investigated by World Aquatics.
Fydler then circulated two voting resolutions to the SA board, claiming any votes of a year earlier did not carry weight for either of the two roles Dunn wanted. A re-vote was held, and Dunn was denied the roles. Four board members voted against, one voted in favour, one abstained, and three 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 a hearing before its adjudicatory body that the charge should be dismissed. He added Dunn had never been formally nominated, suggesting the previous president “may have inadvertently completed an Oceania Aquatics nomination form in a manner that implied a nomination for World Aquatics”.
Fydler also argued he had been guided by advice from the Australian Sports Commission.
However, adjudicator Raymond Hack found Dunn had “in fact, been validly nominated for both positions in April 2024”.
Hack, in his summary, was scathing of Fydler’s conduct.
“A senior official acting with honesty, fairness, and impartiality would have presented the complete picture to his board and sought clarification without mischaracterising the existing material,” Hack said.
“Instead, the respondent [Fydler] presented a misleadingly incomplete narrative, inducing the board to deliberate under incorrect assumptions. Such conduct, is objectively inconsistent with the duty of transparency and integrity expected …”
Fydler cannot resume the top role until August. Vice president Alice Williams and fellow board member Susan Smith are sharing the SA interim presidency.
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