That the objects of this association shall be : (a) To promote and encourage the knowledge of the art of swimming.
(b) To hold amateur championships under the direction of the Council of the A.S.A.
(c) To promote the uniformity of rules for the control and regu lation of amateur swimming and the management of race meetings.
(d) To enforce the observance of the laws and rules of the Amateur Swimming Association, and to deal with any infringe ment thereof.
The competing members composing the ranks of any swimming club wishing to join must be amateurs, and each club becoming affiliated must have a published rule to that effect.
All amateur races held under the Amateur Swimming Associa tion rules must be confined to amateurs according to the definition of the Amateur Swimming Association, which is as follows : An amateur is one who has never competed for a money prize,- de clared wager, or staked bet ; who has never taught, pursued, or assisted in the practice of swimming, or any other athletic exercise, as a means of pecuniary gain ; and who has not, knowingly, or without protest, taken part in any competition or exhibition with anyone who is not an amateur.
A swimmer ceases to be an amateur, and becomes a professional by— (a) Engaging in swimming or any other athletic exercise—or personally teaching, training, or coaching any other person therein— for pecuniary gain.
(b) Selling, realising upon, or otherwise turning into cash, any prize won by him.
(c) Accepting remuneration for swimming in public, or by being employed for money or wages in a swimming bath or elsewhere as an attendant on swimmers.
The basis of representation and payment of each club shall be calculated on the number of its members. Clubs on joining must subscribe for and are entitled to representation on the number of members in the club at the time of becoming affiliated. No club can have more than three representatives. These representatives form the council of this association.
The managing body shall consist of a committee or executive, composed of the president, vice-presidents, honorary treasurer, hono rary secretary, and twenty others, whose duty it shall be to carry out the standing orders of the council, and generally to transact the business of the association. The executive to have full powers :
(a) To nominate, as occasion may suggest, special or sub com mittees, to consider and report upon any questions that the execu tive may refer to them. The recommendations and resolutions embodied in such report shall, if adopted, be considered as the standing orders of the executive.
(b) To elect clubs as members of the association.
(c) To exercise financial control over all affairs of the associa tion.
(d) To suspend for a time, or disqualify, anyone proved guilty of an infringement of the laws of the Amateur Swimming Associa tion, or of any unfair practice connected with the sport, and to remit or shorten any such sentence upon due cause being shown.
(e) To fill up any vacancy occurring on the executive.
(f) To prosecute any professional who competes as an amateur.
(g) To make arrangements for holding the championships, be responsible for the places selected for the meetings, and for every thing necessary for their proper administration.
(h) To appoint local officers in remote districts.
(i) To at their discretion, any amateur who shall have competed in ignorance contrary to the A.S.A. laws.
While the S.A.G.B. was fighting its rival, it did not altogether neglect other matters appertaining to the sport, for on April 13, 1885, a committee was appointed to draw up a set of rules for water-polo. Their report was presented on June 8, and passed. The management of the Long-Distance Championship, originally known as the Lords and Commons Race, was taken over by the association in this year, and has ever since been conducted exclusively by the governing body. It also distributed information respecting the amateur defi nition, and in other ways endeavoured to promote swimming. A committee was appointed in i885 to negotiate with the Education Department and various members of Parliament, in order that swimming should be included in the Code in a similar manner to drill, but it was not until some years after that these early efforts ended in success. A conference was held in September, 1884, with representatives of the N.C.U., respecting the status of schoolmasters who received payment for teaching swimming, and also as regards the state of amateur swimming in Scotland. The A.A.A. were also asked to send delegates to the conference. It was resolved that schoolmasters receiving payment for teaching their scholars could not compete as amateurs, and that mixed races, i.e. professionals and amateurs, could not be allowed in Scotland after January r, 1885.