The ISHOF Aquatic Awards, presented by AquaCal (2023-present)

Chris and Jenny McCuiston founded Goldfish Swim School in their hometown of
Birmingham, Michigan in 2006. Recognizing the demand for swim lessons in the
area, Jenny, an Olympic Trials Qualifier with a degree in early childhood
development, and Chris, a finance major from Michigan State University, set out to
create a child-focused facility to help children become safer and more confident in
and around the water.

Prior to opening Goldfish Swim School, the high school sweethearts traveled the
country for swim school research, inspiration and direction. Utilizing the knowledge
gained through their travels, along with Jenny’s extensive knowledge of swimming
and teaching, and Chris’ strong financial and business background, every aspect
and detail of the swim school was carefully thought out. Upon opening, Goldfish
Swim School quickly grew popular for its innovative approach to teaching, along
with the child-friendly décor, 90-degree pool, and dedication to providing a golden
experience.  The couple, along with Chris’ brother Andrew, built on this success by
expanding their business as a franchise.

Jenny McCuiston, Visionary & Co-Founder: 
Jenny McCuiston co-founded Goldfish Swim School Franchising alongside her
husband Chris in 2006, and continues to serve as a visionary for the brand, guiding
Goldfish’s proprietary Science of SwimPlay® Curriculum, which teaches students
through safe, guided play.  A collegiate swimmer, two-time Olympic Trials Qualifier
and now, mom to four young swimmers, Jenny has seen first-hand the positive
impact that safe swimming can have on a child’s confidence and is committed to
sharing that with children across the country and beyond. In addition to growing
the Goldfish brand, Jenny’s current goal is expanding the company’s philanthropic
arm and mission to build awareness surrounding water safety, providing
disadvantaged children with the opportunity to participate in swim lessons. An
energetic, passionate spokesperson, Jenny has been featured on The TODAY Show,
Live with Kelly & Ryan and in Reader’s Digest, Romper and other media outlets,
demonstrating Goldfish’s unique curriculum and speaking about drowning
prevention. 

Chris McCuiston, CEO & Co-Founder 
As co-founder and CEO, Chris McCuiston has grown Goldfish Swim School
Franchising with his wife, Jenny, since 2006 to include over 165 swim schools open
or in development throughout North America, teaching water safety to more than
200,000 children each week.

McCuiston attributes his success as a franchise leader to his background in team
sports and his business degree, which have enabled him to build successful teams
and relationships throughout the organization. He prioritizes team culture and understands the importance of engagement, well-being and recognition for the organization’s success. McCuiston’s people-focused approach has helped Goldfish Swim School become a leader in the swim lessons category, earning him prestigious awards such as EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017 and Crain’s Detroit Business 40 Under 40 in 2018. McCuiston is proud to be creating and growing an environment of people committed to making a difference.

The Pinciroli Family is a water polo family. Pedro’s wife Olga, also Cristiana’s
mother, won this very same award in 2014 for her dedication to the sport. Now,
ten years later, her husband and daughter are being recognized for their dedication
to the sport.

Pedro Pinciroli
Pedro Pinciroli was an Olympic water polo player for his home country of Brazil,
where he played in two editions of the Olympic Games; 1964, Tokyo and 1968,
Mexico City, where he was ranked among the top scorers. Pedro says that
participating the Olympic Games left profound marks on his mind and body,
creating a frame of reference that dominates the way in which he thinks and acts.
He was a five-time South American Champion, Pan American Vice-Champion and
Captain of the Brazilian National Tam from 1968-1976.

After the world of water polo, he became a businessman and a strategist. Probably,
most importantly, Pinciroli conceived and led the process of the adoption of the
Piva Law, sanctioned by President Fernando Henrique Cardoso on July 16, 2001,
which states that 2% of the gross revenue of all federal lotteries in the country are
transferred to the Brazilian Olympic Committee and to the Brazilian Paralympic
Committee – along with the Minister Saul Ramos, Senator Pedro Piva and President
of the COP, Carlos Arthur Nuzman.

Cristiana Pinciroli
Cristiana was the pioneer and captain of the Brazilian National Water Polo team.
She played professionally in Italy at the end of her sports career and was
considered among the few top players in the world. After sports, her first transition
was to the business world, enjoying 25 years as an executive at a leading Brazilian
bank. There, she leveraged her experiences and strengths in sport and successfully
led teams in realizing their full potential.

Her second transition, as she calls it, was when she left the bank and became an
best-selling author. She wrote the book, “Sport: A stage for Life” which was
launched in both English and Portuguese, together with her father.
Cris is an expert in high performance and happiness. She works with organizations
and athletes to nurture human potential in a journey of success and well-being.
That’s her calling.

Together, Pedro and Cris won numerous prestigious awards including the Firebird
and Titan Book Awards, for “Sports: a Stage for Life”. The book brings to mind
that sport is not just about winning but brings HAPPINESS to one’s life.  If you ran
in the Boston Marathon there may only be one winner, but does that mean theare losers?  Of course NOT!  Some are winners because they finished, or they bettered their time, some because they raised money for a charity. There are always different reasons for being a winner.

Pedro has been in the sport for 65 years and Cris for 25 years and they are still
promoting water polo.  The sport of water polo is lucky to have people like all three
of the Pincirloi’s!

Beth Root has spent over 30 years building buzz and driving engagement for non-
profits and global brands, including A&E, AMC, Blue Man Group, Cartoon Network,
CMT, Disney, MTV Networks, Sara Lee and Showtime, but she is probably best
known in aquatic circles, as the creator of the “World’s Largest Swim Lesson”.

She has volunteered with the World Waterpark Association (WWA) for the last 21
years, helping to build and support the organization’s water safety initiatives,
including National Water Safety Month and campaigns like “His Super Powers Don’t
Work in Water”.

In 2009, the WWA was looking for a fresh idea to generate media attention about
water safety. Beth responded with the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson™ (WLSL)
– pitching it as a platform aquatic organizations and local communities could use to
build awareness about the fundamental importance of teaching kids to swim.
Swimming is a life-saving skill and a vital tool to help prevent drowning, the leading
cause of death for U.S. children ages 1-4 and the second leading cause for ages 5-
14.

Beth initially managed all elements of the program, bringing the concept to life with
branding, marketing materials, a PR campaign, social media and a “how-to guide”
for facilities. The World Waterpark Association launched the first World’s Largest
Swimming Lesson on June 3, 2010, with 72 host locations in five countries hosting
the lesson at the same time around the globe. That year, Team WLSL set its first
Guinness World Record® for the Largest Swimming Lesson at multiple venues with
3,971 participants. In the next five years, the program set five multi-venue and
three single-venue Guinness World Records®.

The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson, is supported by leading aquatics and safety
organizations worldwide and takes place at all types of aquatic facilities, from huge
waterparks to public pools and swim schools. Celebrating its 15 th anniversary in
2024, the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson has served as a powerful platform for
more than 5,800 facilities in 54 countries, teaching more than 407,000 participants
life-saving water competency skills.

Since its inception, the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson program has generated
more than three billion Swimming Lessons Save Lives™ media impressions, fueling
participation in formal swimming lessons and increased water competency.

Beth is a passionate drowning prevention advocate, former lifeguard, WSI,
competitive swimmer and graduate of the Ohio State University. Prior to her work
on the agency side, she worked in the tourism industry as Director of Marketing and
Communications for the Branson, Missouri Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Currently, she is the Chief Creative at Buzzonic, a content and communications
agency she founded in Overland Park, KS in 2008.

Beth is a National Drowning Prevention Alliance Light House Award Honoree, serves
on NDPA’s Water Competency & Swim Safety Advisory Council and is a frequent
speaker at the National Water Safety Conference. She has been recognized as an
Aquatics International Power 25 for her work on the World’s Largest Swimming
Lesson and received the World Waterpark Association Kelly Ogle Memorial Safety
Award for her contributions.

Jay Thomas began his swimming career as an age-group summer league swimmer
in northern New Jersey. He started his first race while serving as a lifeguard in that
same league. He was a two-sport athlete at Clemson University, earning All-
American honors in Fencing. After college, he joined the United States Navy as a
pilot stationed in Hawaii, where he took up triathlon and participated in open-water
races.

After leaving military active duty, he moved to the Fort Lauderdale area with his
family. His two daughters joined the local recreation department’s Learn to Swim
program, eventually progressing to the swim team. Always supporting his children
and their athletic interests, he served in many volunteer roles on the team,
including managing the swim meet entry and swim meet results processing
systems and ultimately as the Booster Club President.

While serving as the club President that he was introduced to officiating. The club
was one of the top age group programs in the region but had zero officials. He
recruited 20 parents and went through the training process to become certified as
Stroke and Turn officials. Two days after receiving his certification, in May, 1995,
Jay received a phone call from Stu Marvin, Manager, the Hall of Fame Pool,
“Congratulations on your new official certification! I was wondering if you would be
available later this week to help us out for an event – it starts Thursday, and it’s
called Masters Nationals.” And so, his officiating career began. His sole purpose
then and today is to serve the swimming community and its athletes.

Jay has officiated for USA Swimming, World Aquatics/FINA, United States Masters
Swimming, the NCAA, and the NFHS. From 2010-2014 and 2016-2020, he served
on the USA Swimming’s Board of Directors and has been a member of several USA
Swimming committees and task forces, including the Rules and Regulations
Committee – 2008- 2020, serving as Chair from 2014-2018.

In 2013, Jay was asked to assume the Chairmanship of “Our Kids Initiative” or OKI
(www.ourkidsinititative,org). This committee has been continuously collaborating
since it first met in 2000. The group meets annually and brings together the
leaders of the global swimming rule-making bodies consisting of World
Aquatics/FINA, USA Swimming, NCAA, NFHS, USMS, YMCA together with the ASCA,
CSCAA, College Swim Officials Association and NISCA. The collaborative efforts of
this group ensure that from a swimming rules perspective, each stakeholder
understands, considers and respects the impact rule changes from each
organization have on the athletes across the entire spectrum of competitive
swimming.

Jay served as a member of the UANA/PanAm Aquatics Technical Swimming
Committee from 2010-2023 and was its chairman from 2019-2023. He was
appointed to the World Aquatics, Technical Swimming Committee in 2022 and
currently serves as its secretary.

Jay is recognized as one of the world’s most experienced and trusted swimming
officials, serving in leadership positions at high-level competitions including:
two Olympic Games, Rio 2016, and Paris 2024, nine World Aquatics/FINA World
Championships, one World Open Water Championships, three Pan American Games,
Toronto 2015, Lima 2019 and Santiago 2023, three U.S. Olympic Team Trials, seven
USA Swimming National Championships as Head Referee, and eight NCAA Division I
Men’s Championship as the Head Referee.

Thomas was the recipient of the 2008 Glenn S. Hummer Award (Open Water), the
2008 USA Swimming Official’s Excellence Award, and the 2018 USA Swimming
Kenneth J. Pettigrew Award.

He is the proud father of two daughters, Barbara, an entrepreneur in the fitness
industry, and Morgan, an Associate Head Women’s Volleyball Coach at Texas
Christian University. He and his wife Rebecca, also an accomplished official, reside
In Charlotte, N.C.

Sheilagh Boudia the 2024 Diving Paragon Award recipient began her journey years ago in the United
States Air Force where she served proudly. The Air Force was in a transition period to replace this dated
technology with personal computers and Sheilagh was in the forefront of this technological
implementation. Soon she was setting up equipment and was on her way to learning about the
amazing often complex world of computers.

Little did Sheilagh know that the foundation she learned in the Air Force would lead her to her next job. Now a mother of three with her youngest in gymnastics, she began helping in the gymnastics office to supplement her sons’ gymnastics lessons. It a short while later her son found his way to diving where once again, she supplemented his lessons by working in the office. While helping, she found herself supporting Jr. Nationals and like many other parents, she volunteered and eventually was on the scoring table. Meanwhile another parent of a diver, Kelly Jackman was developing a scoring system for the sport — a one stop shop. He called it DiveMeets where parents, coaches, divers and administrators could sign up for meets, current, past and future, see past event results, live results, photos and profiles of divers and coaches — and stats lots of stats! Items now taken for granted did not exist before DiveMeets.

Sheilagh joined the DiveMeets team in 2011 and her colleagues, Paul Holzman, Laura D’Amico and Dario
Dafazio had this to say “We are thrilled to recognize Sheilagh for her pivotal role as the liaison between
DiveMeets and our valued partner organizations. As the face of DiveMeets, Sheilagh has been
instrumental in maintaining and nurturing our strong relationships with USA Diving, NCAA and many
others over the years. Her deep understanding of the unique needs of each organization, combined
with her commitment to collaboration, has significantly contributed to the advancement of our sport.”
“Sheilagh’s extensive experience in the world of diving is truly unapparelled. Her perspective as a
parent in the stands to her hands on involvement in running meets, her work with our partner
organizations and her contributions to DiveMeets where she has co-developed reports, programs and
support procedures, Sheilagh embodies every facet of the sport.”

“Her passion for diving is evident in every interaction, and her unwavering dedication ensures that the
best interests of the sport are always at the forefront.”

Longtime NBC Olympic announcer, Cynthia Potter said, “she is the most valuable and necessary asset
any organization could have. Always running meets with the utmost accuracy and professionalism. She
never touched a computer during competition when her son was diving — avoiding the appearance of a
possible conflict.” A sentiment echoed by USA Diving’s High-Performance Director, Leslie Hasselbach
Adams, who added “her contributions behind the scenes have been instrumental in our domestic
events making her an essential part of our teams’ achievements.”

Linda Paul, retired CEO of USA Diving said “Sheilagh was without question the person I trusted with our
greatest asset, Olympic Trials. Scoring is a key foundational pillar of running an exceptional meet for
our divers & coaches to deliver their best performances and if we were on TV that added another layer
of pressure. Sheilagh always delivered even if problems developed and worked feverishly to fix them
so that the show could go on. A true unsung hero!”

Cokey Huffman, World Aquatics TDC and Michigan Diving Coach said “Sheilagh’s support of our judges
and judging program in the United States has been a blessing in so many ways, from keeping current
on the various rule changes and developing the reports and tools that have been used to assess the
scoring consistency within judge panels.” Establishing the US Diving Judges Education and Certification
Program was a great step forward and Sheilagh was always there to help with that initiative.
Sheilagh is married to Jim Boudia, mother to Shauni, Shaila and David and together they have 10
grandchildren with one more on the way. Congratulations Sheilagh from your USA Diving family and
friends!

Sandra Robert’s contribution to Saskatchewan’s artistic swimming programs is
immeasurable. Beginning in the 1950’s as an athlete, she played a vital role in the
province, the country and throughout the world also as a coach, judge and
administrator. In 1957, Sandy was a member of the first-ever Saskatchewan team
to compete at a national championship. Coached by her grandmother Sadie
Caulder, the team placed third, only 1.2 points behind winning team from Quebec
City. Sandra then turned her focus to what would become a 21-year coaching
career. Under her guidance, many teams and athletes became provincial
champions. Over her years as a coach, Sandra coached in Regina, Saskatoon and
Swift Current.
 
Sandra began judging locally in 1968 and by the next year had attained a National
Level IV rating. She judged at the Canadian National Synchronized Swimming
Championships for 37 years from 1968 to 2005. She became an international judge
in 1978 and received her initial FINA accreditation in 1985. In 1988, she received
the FINA ‘A’ rating, and later became a ‘judge’s judge’ when she began evaluating
judges in addition to offering judging clinics all over the world. Sandra’s
international resume is extensive: four Swiss Opens, five Pan American Games, one
Commonwealth Game, nine World Cups, nine World Championships, four Olympic
Qualifiers, four Olympic Games, as well as more than 30 other international
competitions. In 2001, the Coaching Association of Canada presented her with the
Fox 40 Female Official of the Year Award.
 
Sandra held a variety of posts in Synchro Saskatchewan (now Saskatchewan
Artistic Swimming) including president, treasurer, secretary, technical chair, and
was responsible for developing and submitting our ‘Sask First’ proposal to Sask
Sport, Inc. the first year this program was initiated. For several years, Sandra
chaired our Sask First Management Committee. Sandra was also nominated by
Synchro Sask and elected to the Sask Sport Board of Directors for which she served
for three years from 1980 to 1983, two of these years as Vice-President. Nationally,
she has served on Synchro Canada’s Board of Directors (now Canada Artistic
Swimming) and chaired or acted on numerous national artistic swimming
committees including those that concentrate on coaching development, national
team management, competition, judges’ development and international affairs. She
revised the Star Program and wrote a basic coaching manuals to accompany it that
sold in 30 countries around the world in English, French and Spanish.
 
Internationally, Sandra worked on the ASUA (Amateur Swimming Union of the
Americas) Technical Synchro Committee from 1987 to 2003 and the FINA Technical
Synchro Committee from 1988 to 2000. She represented Synchro Canada at the
FINA League of European National Aquatic Conferences in 1987 and 1988. At the
request of the FINA Technical Committee, she worked together with representatives
from Japan and the United States to produce an international judging manual still
used today. In 1995, she developed and produced the first Figure/Technical Routine
video for FINA. Sandra was recognized by the FINA International Organization for

her merit, dedication and contribution to synchro on July 23, 2005 when she was
presented with the FINA Gold Pin Award.
 
After approximately 50 years of involvement with artistic swimming, Sandra retired
at the end of the 2004/05 season. She was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports
Hall of Fame in 1992. The current team of international officials in Canada had this
to say about Roberts; “Sandy has not just done the work of a judge or contributed
to the development of the sport in Saskatchewan, in Canada and around the world
but also been an awesome role model and mentor. We have always been able to
count on Sandy to ‘tell it like it is’ and share her unique sense of humor with us as
well. Her commitment to the sport of synchronized swimming is legendary!”
 
In 2009, SAS renamed the National Stream Provincials, the Sandra Roberts
National Stream Provincials in her honor.

There is probably no one more knowledgeable about swimming than Mike Unger. If there was such a thing a “Mr. Swimming”, Mike would hold the title, well, he might have to share it with his good friend, Rowdy Gaines.  

Mike began his swimming journey in New Jersey, where he was an above average age group swimmer.  He went on to swim in college under Jack Pettinger at the University of Wisconsin, and even dabbled in a little coaching.  It wasn’t until 1993 and the great Ray Essick hired him as a young man, that Mike Unger’s  true journey really began.  It was one of the best decisions Essick ever made for the world of swimming. After Essick, Mike went on to work for Chuck Wielgus for many years.

Unger eventually worked his way into the role of USA Swimming’s Chief Operating Officer for the last 18 years of his tenure at USS.  He was the Assistant Executive Director and the interim Executive Director, stepping into the leadership role when longtime Executive Director Wielgus was battling cancer and then after Wielgus passed away in April 2017. When the third Executive Director was hired during Mike’s tenure, he continued to serve as a key figure in the leadup to the delayed Tokyo Olympics.

In Unger’s time at USA Swimming, American swimmers won an astonishing 212 Olympic medals over seven Olympic Games, the most of all sports from all nations.

In his role as COO, Unger has also worked as National Events Director, Marketing Director and National Team Coordinator, and he oversaw all major USA Swimming-hosted events, including the Olympic Trials, Nationals, Golden Goggles, the Duel in the Pool and, in 2014, the Pan Pacific Championships. He has played a role in just about every department at USA Swimming at some point during his long tenure with the organization.

Under Unger’s leadership, USA Swimming elevated its Olympic Trials from a 4,000-seat arena at the IUPUI Natatorium in 2000 to a 10,000-seat temporary venue in a Long Beach, California parking lot in 2008 to the major sporting event that it  is today. Four straight Trials have been held inside an Omaha, Nebraska basketball arena that can seat approximately 14,000 fans when set up for swimming, and Unger has been among those whose efforts have helped grow the sport and put on an event of significance.

Unger has also been involved in all major swimming telecasts since the 1996 Olympics and has worked “on loan” to NBC. He has worked as a producer or co-producer in the truck and has been a voice in the ear for commentators Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines for seven Olympic Games (Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020). Unger’s work on the Olympic swimming coverage earned him three Emmy awards and five nominations. 

After spending 28 ½ years at United States Swimming, in December of 2021, Mike was hired as a Senior Advisor at World Aquatics (formerly FINA), based in Lausanne, Switzerland. Over the past (almost) two years, Unger has helped lead World Aquatics efforts at all major aquatic events such as the World Championships and the Olympic Games.

This past Summer, Mike was selected as the 2023 USA Swimming Award recipient, an award, given out annually, that honors “exceptional contributions to the sport of swimming and to USA Swimming.”  The award is USA Swimming’s highest honor.

Mike and his wife, Lisa, an engineer for the town of Castle Rock, Colorado, have two daughters, Nicole, a senior at DePaul University,  Natalie, a junior at Wisconsin.

The sport of swimming is thankful to Mike Unger for all the he does and all the he will do inthe future for all of the aquatic sports.

She has not even turned 30 years old yet, and Ellie Smart is the CEO of more organizations or institutes than most people will ever hope to be in a lifetime.  Described by a former FINA official as a “great entrepreneur” and “the Number one Ambassador for the sport of High Diving,” Ellie Smart has gotten more things already done for the sport than probably anyone else.

Smart began diving when she was just five years old and instantly fell in love with the sport. She dove collegiately at University of California, Berkeley before finding “cliff diving” also known as high diving.  

Smart made her debut on the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series circuit in 2017 and earned a permanent place in the women’s line-up for the 2019 season with a third-place finish at the FINA World Cup.  She finished the 2022 season ranked #1 in the USA and #3 in the world.  Ellie currently represents Team USA internationally and is a permanent diver on the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series while also running her businesses. Smart moved to Fort Lauderdale in March 2023 to continue training at the International Swimming Hall of Fame and to continue growing the sport of high diving.  

In 2021, she won the FINA Award in Abu Dhabi, an award  presented to athletes who excelled during sporting events in that year. Smart was recognized for her incredible achievements, hard work and dedication to the sport.

Also in 2021, Smart created the International High Diving Institute (IHDI), of which she is also the Chief Executive Officer.  The IHDI which was founded to develop the sport of high diving by providing training opportunities, host events, and create a community for athletes, coaches, and fans. It supports junior and senior development in addition to technical and freestyle disciplines of high diving. The Institute partnered with the Utah Olympic Park to construct the United States’ first high diving training platform. Ellie has been the CEO of the IHDI since it opened in September 2021. She and a few others are also working to get the sport of high diving included into the Olympic program, hopefully by 2028.   

Smart has been the biggest promoter of high diving to date.  She is also the CEO of SKYFALL,  a groundbreaking high dive competition, pushing the boundaries of human achievement in acrobatics.  In the world of extreme sports, few activities captivate audiences like high diving. The combination of athleticism, grace, and daring maneuvers creates a spectacle that leaves spectators in awe.  The Skyfall tour has two stops this Summer on its innagural tour, Salt Lake City and Fort Lauderdale. 

For the environmentalists, Smart founded Clean Cliffs in 2017. Clean Cliffs started with a simple idea, let’s keep doing what we love while leaving a positive impact on the environment.  Their mission is to raise awareness about global pollution and promote sustainability through adventure activities.  Ellie’s concept is simple really; She travels the world and dives in some of the most beautiful locations around the globe. Sometimes they get crowds of thousands to watch them dive.  Ellie and her group want to make sure once the event is over, not only do they leave the water, as well as the beach and surrounding area clean, but leave it cleaner than it was before they got there.  So, she calls on spectators, locals, divers, anyone who wants to help and to leave a positive impact on every place they visit.

Maria José Bilbao Bruñel has been involved with synchronized swimming for most of her life.  She began as an athlete in her home country of Spain and retired after a successful career. She then began to coach, which eventually led to judging.  She was the founding member of her club, CN. Kallipolos in 1968. 

She began as a Catalan judge, graduated to national judge and then became an international judge in 1998.  She was appointed as a member to the FINA Artistic Swimming Technical Committee, 2009-2022. She was named a FINA Assessor in 2013, and a FINA Referee in 2014.  She has been involved in most every type of Artistic competition there is, including the World Championships and the Olympic Games.

She was FINA Evaluator in 2019 at the World Championships, in 2020 at the Olympic Games, in 2022 at the World Championships in Budapest and in 2022 at COMEN in France as well as many other national and international competitions.  Brunel is currently the President of the FINA Innovation Committee, in charge of drawing up the 2022-2025 regulations.

Mark Koganov began his career in the sport of water polo as an athlete between the years of 1982-1990 and as a member of National team of Azerbaijan.

He later became a water polo referee, and between 1998 and today, he has officiated in approximately 300 international games, more than 1500 collegiate games in different conferences, including officiating in six NCAA Finals, for both men and women.

Koganov has held numerous aquatic positions, including Water Polo Competitions Director, Aquatic Competitions Manager and has held administrative positions in the sport.

He is currently the Vice President of Azerbaijan Swimming Federation, a position he has held since 2012.  He is also a LEN TWPC Member, a position he began serving in 2016 and he was the Vice Chairman of the FINA Technical Water Polo Committee, 2017 – 2022.

Koganov has refereed LEN Champions League, Super Cup Finals, and Championship Finals.  He has been a neutral referee for the Asian Games, World Championships, and the Olympic Games.