Australia won 13 golds in swimming at this year’s World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka and finished second in the overall medal table across all disciplines.

But its swimmers may not be able to compete under the country’s national flag at major events unless changes are made to Swimming Australia’s governance, World Aquatics has warned.

In response, Swimming Australia has called a special general meeting for October 20 to vote on changes to its Constitution, which aims to "modernise changes and governance of the organisation."

Swimming Australia’s chief executive Eugenie Buckley resigned in April, after a group of swimming stakeholders in Australia sent a letter to her and the organisation’s Board calling for an urgent and independent governance review.

There were reportedly reservations about Buckley's leadership style and claims that her culture and behaviour did not align with the organisation's values and objectives.

Swimming Australia President Michelle Gallen said: "The message from the governing body is abundantly clear.

"If we don't make these necessary changes, then our standing in the sport is in jeopardy.

"These changes are aimed at our members and bringing much needed - and called for - change and stability to how our sport is governed."

In a statement World Aquatics said it "welcomes the changes to the Swimming Australia Constitution, which will give more power to athletes and a voice on the Board."

The Kenya Swimming Federation (KSF), meanwhile, which was initially suspended in 2019 after failing to meet election deadlines, has been banned from all World Aquatics competitions and events indefinitely due to continued issues within the organisation.

World Aquatics appointed a Stabilisation Committee to run the KSF in July 2022, as reported by SwimSwam, however the issues are still persisting, according to the organisation.

"This decision was occasioned by the deliberate actions by identifiable members of the swimming fraternity within Kenya who have impeded the work of the Stabilisation Committee - particularly the completion of the elective process designed to deliver a new Executive Board for Kenya Aquatics," the World Aquatics Stabilisation Committee said in a statement.

"Consequently, Kenya cannot participate in any of the forthcoming competitions going forward until the directive is reversed."

Kenyan swimmers were previously permitted to compete as neutrals at major events, with four doing so at last month’s World Aquatics Championships.

The latest sanction is an upgrade on this meaning Kenyan swimmers now cannot participate at all until the issues are resolved.

World Aquatics Stabilisation Committee has been tasked with finalising an elective process within the next 90 days.