Alexandra Jorge, the whistleblower who sparked an integrity inquiry into António Silva, and Nuno Recarei, the head of the North Portugal Swimming Association who nailed a series of questions that raised red flags over transparency in governance, are the 2024 winners of the SOS Courage Cup.

A whistleblower who resigned her role at the General Assembly of the Portuguese swimming federation (FPN) after her concerns over the registration of a water safety (through swimming) scheme fell on deaf ears among leadership figures, Jorge raised matters with the Portuguese Institute for Sport and Youth (IPDJ) and an inquiry ensued.

That process concluded a year ago with an instruction from the IPDJ for the FPN to dismiss Silva as its president. The IPDJ has legal powers to withdraw mandate, funding and the right to select national teams from any Olympic sports federation that does not carry out orders flowing from (but not limited to) the decisions of investigators looking into integrity and transparency concerns.

To date, the Integrity Units of World Aquatics and European Aquatics have not held full inquiries nor taken any action against Silva, still European Aquatics president and vice-president of World Aquatics.

That is the case despite Silva having last month dropped his efforts to "clear" his name after his attempts to further delay an order for the FPN to dismiss Silva were thrown out due to the "supervening futility of the dispute", in the words of the tribunal hearing the case (see storey in full via links below).

The efforts of Jorge and Recarei, among others supporting them (some who we are unable to name), are fully deserving of our support and recognition. The SOS Courage Cup is our way of showing due appreciation for their pursuit of truth, transparency and insistence on fair play and integrity.

A reminder: The 2023 Courage Cup:

Sharron Davies Lifts SOS Courage Cup On Front Line Of Fight To Save Women’s Sport

To mark the 50th anniversary of East Germany’s doping State Research Plan 14:25, we recall how Sharron Davies’ lead role in the fight to save women’s sport links the events of the Cold War in the 1970s and 1980s to today’s battle to ring fence women’s sport for females only

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord