CONTENTS. President s & CEO s Report 3. Treasurer s Report 9. Financial Report 10. Affiliations/Registrations Regional Reports 24

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1 CONTENTS President s & CEO s Report 3 Treasurer s Report 9 Financial Report 10 Affiliations/Registrations Regional Reports 24 Appendices: - Awards 37 - Teams & Squads 40 - Success in the Water 53 OUR ROLE: Swimming Queensland is the peak body for the administration of swimming activities in Queensland. It conducts, encourages, promotes, advances, controls and administers swimming activities throughout the State through a number of distinct functions, including: Administering the rules of swimming Registering members Educating and developing athletes, coaches, and Technical Officials Administering the sport s funding Representing Queensland swimming at the national level and with Government Conducting and co-ordinating swimming competition Formulating and implementing policies and programs Acquiring and managing sponsorship Front Cover Alicia Coutts Olympic Gold Medallist

2 London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Melanie Schlanger, Brittany Elmslie, Cate Campbell, Alicia Coutts London 2012 Paralympic Gold Medallist Blake Cochrane 2 P a g e

3 PRESIDENT S AND CEO S REPORT We are pleased to submit to members this report on Swimming Queensland s activities during the 2012/13 financial year London Olympic Games Alicia Coutts was Queensland s most successful swimmer at the 2012 London Olympic Games. She became only the third Australian swimmer, after Shane Gould and Ian Thorpe, to win five medals at an Olympic Games: two silver medals in individual events, and one gold and two silver relay medals. Alicia s gold medal came as a member of the Australian team in the Women s 4 x 100m Freestyle relay, every member of which was a Queenslander. The team comprised Alicia, Melanie Schlanger, Cate Campbell, Brittany Elmslie, Emily Seebohm, Libby Trickett, and Yolane Kukla. Similarly, all swimmers in the finals of the two other women s relay events, in which Australia won silver medals, were also Queenslanders. Individual medals were also won by Christian Sprenger (silver), Emily Seebohm (silver), and Bronte Barrett (bronze). Queensland swimmers reached new heights in Australian swimming s Olympic annals by making up two-thirds of the Australian swimming team. Thirteen of these swimmers reached a final at the Games. Queensland coaches were strongly represented on the team London Paralympic Games Two Queensland swimmers won gold medals at the 2012 London Paralympic Games - Blake Cochrane in the Men s SB7 100m Breaststroke, and Brenden Hall in the Men s S9 400m Freestyle - and both set world records in the process. Daniel Fox won a silver medal in the Men s S14 200m Freestyle Australian Open Championships Queensland once again took out both the Corbett and Kieran Shields as the premier State in the women s and men s divisions of the 2013 Australian Open Championships. Alicia Coutts claimed three gold medals. In winning the Men s 400 IM, Thomas Fraser-Holmes set a new Commonwealth record, while Christian and Alicia both set new Australian records. In Multi Class events, Daniel Fox, Kayla Clarke, Brenden Hall, and Blake Cochrane were dual gold medallists. Daniel and Blake set new world records. Nineteen swimmers were selected for the 2013 World Championships based on their performances at the Championships. They will be joined by six Queensland coaches. This is the 9 th successive occasion that Queensland has achieved at least 50% representation on the major Australian team selected following the Championships. 3 P a g e

4 Six Queensland swimmers will compete at the IPC World Championships in Montreal. Coaches Harley Connolly and Rick Van der Zant were also selected Australian Multi Class Championships Rowan Crothers, Logan Powell and Rakiya Thomas each won an individual gold medal at the 2013 Australian Multi Class Championships Australian Age Championships Queensland s winning streak at the Australian Age Championships reached 14 years in succession with victory in A total of 26 individual gold medals was won by Queensland swimmers. Twenty-one Queensland coaches produced one or more gold medallists at the Championships. Alanna Bowles and Andrew Ryan each won five individual gold medals. Thirteen Queensland swimmers have been selected for the 2013 World Junior Championships in Dubai. Head Coach of the team will be Glenn Beringen Australian Open Water Championships Ten Queensland swimmers won gold medals at the 2013 Australian Open Water Championships under the guidance of seven Queensland coaches. Four Queensland swimmers earned a place on the Australian team for the 2013 World Championships Junior Pan Pacific Championships Twenty Queensland swimmers competed at the 2012 Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Hawaii. Matthew Levings won two individual gold medals, with Andrew Digby and Alexandra Purcell both winning an individual gold medal State Teams Short Course Championships Queensland maintained its perfect record at the 2012 State Teams Short Course Championships, taking out the championships for the fourth consecutive year Queensland Championships Winners of the major awards at the 2012 Queensland Championships were Zac Stubblety- Cook (McDonald s Swimmer of the Meet); Hayden Cotter (McDonald s Age Group Swimmer of the Meet); Alanna Bowles (McDonald s Country Swimmer of the Meet); and Brenden Hall (SWD Swimmer of the Meet). Brenden set new world records in the Men s S9 800m Freestyle and 1500m Freestyle. 4 P a g e

5 Athlete and Coach Development Eleven Queensland swimmers under the direction of Head Coach Glenn Beringen, and accompanied by three development coaches, competed at the 2012 USA Championships in Indianapolis. The Queensland team won the trophy for the highest point score for the men s and women s divisions combined. The Super Camp format conducted four years out from the London Olympics was resurrected as the focus turned towards the Rio Olympics in The Road to Rio camp, held at The Southport School, catered for 77 swimmers and 20 coaches and was led by John Wallace. Late in the year, Swimming Queensland announced the appointment of Paulus Wildeboer as its new Mentor Coach. Paulus impressive coaching credentials include six Olympic Games, and success at both World Championship and Olympic levels. He is a regular keynote speaker at swimming conferences and conventions around the world, and most recently served as the National Head Coach for the Danish Swimming Federation, prior to which he coached in Spain for well over two decades. The establishment of a new position in Swimming Queensland of Coaching Science Development Officer will be of great benefit to Paulus in the delivery of coach and swimmer development services. Other development activities included regional clinics, the NSW Open Water Championships, and the annual visit to the QAS by members of the Junior Platinum Squad, while financial support was provided to various swimmers to assist them to access strong competition. Coach education and accreditation courses were conducted across the State. Brisbane Swimming Association Brisbane Swimming Association, whose affiliation with Swimming Queensland was not renewed for the 2011/12 season, was readmitted as a member for 2012/13. Technical Official Development A forum for Referees and another for Starters were held for officials from all regions, with a total of 51 participants. These activities were complemented by the mentoring program conducted each year at the Queensland Championships. Membership Development The companion DVD to Growing Up In Lycra was completed during the year. Making Champion Men deals with the passage of young males into adulthood as they pursue their sporting dreams. Several accomplished swimmers and a variety of experts provide strategies on undertaking the journey in a way that ensures they develop into well-rounded, successful men and that swimming is a positive experience for them. It has been distributed to all male swimming members in Queensland aged 11 years and over, and, under an agreement with the Australian Swimming Coaches and Teachers Association, to 2,000 of its members around Australia. Swimming Australia has purchased a licence from Swimming Queensland to distribute Making Champion Men and Growing Up In Lycra to members located in the other States. 5 P a g e

6 Positive feedback on both DVDs from schools indicated that they have a strong potential for use in the school system. This led Swimming Australia to commission Swimming Queensland to conduct a pilot in selected schools to assess the potential for SAL and the States to form ongoing, mutually beneficial partnerships with schools in the delivery of key life-skill messages to students through presentations based on Growing Up In Lycra and Making Champion Men. The pilot has the full backing of the Australian Swimmers Association, which is assisting by engaging leading swimmers as presenters. The Participation Fun Days program, developed by Swimming Queensland for children with special needs, was conducted at 11 locations. A similar program, Make A Splash, for indigenous and CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) children, was launched during the year. Make A Splash clinics were delivered at eight centres. Led by Mrs Wendy Ross, a national leader in aquatic education, the clinics focus on developing swimming skills, water confidence and water safety awareness, while providing instruction and support to school teachers, learn to swim teachers and parents in the special skills required to teach swimming to disabled, indigenous and CALD children. In recognition of the merit of these programs, Mrs Gina Rinehart has agreed to sponsor them through the Georgina Hope Foundation. This partnership will allow disabled, indigenous and CALD children to aspire to join the ranks of Queensland swimmers who have represented Australia with distinction. Macca s Mini Meets continue to be popular amongst swim schools, with 108 participating in the program during 2012/13. Queensland was well represented in the national JX program, with 3,400 of its junior swimmers receiving a JX award. General The formulation of Swimming Queensland s strategic plan was completed by the Board during 2012/13. It has been designed to dovetail into Swimming Australia s blueprint. Awards The Swimming Queensland Hall of Fame became even more illustrious with the induction of Leisel Jones OAM, Geoff Heugill, John Keppie OAM, Margaret Pugh OAM, and Michael Bohl OAM. Swimming Queensland Life Membership was conferred on David Milburn (CQ), Jan King (Brisbane), Judy Hicks (NQ), and Michele Watson (WB), while Awards of Excellence were presented to Brendan Keogh (Brisbane), John Wallace (WB), Kevin Thomson (WB), and Jill Ryan (Brisbane). Alicia Coutts received both the Energy Australia Swimmer of the Year and Susie O Neill Awards. 6 P a g e

7 Acknowledgments Swimming Queensland has beneficial relationships with a wide range of organisations and people, the sum of which enables us to be a highly productive organisation able to sustain the effort and performance needed to keep Queensland as the pre-eminent swimming State in Australia. At the forefront of these relationships is the Queensland Academy of Sport, which always makes the extra effort to ensure that we can deliver opportunities to our swimmers and coaches so that they can excel, not just for Queensland but for their nation. This is evidenced by the financial support it provides for the employment of a Mentor Coach and now a Coaching Science Development Officer, as well as for overseas trips and major development camps and clinics. Our relationship with Regional Associations has never been better, and there are strong indications that Swimming Australia will play a bigger part in helping Swimming Queensland to continue to give vital support to Swimming Australia in the pursuit of its national objectives. The generous, ongoing support of our sponsors McDonald s, Speedo, Georgina Hope Foundation, Hancock Coal, and Energy Australia - is, and always will be, crucial to us. On behalf of the Board of Swimming Queensland, we thank each and every person who helps us fulfil our obligation to the sport of swimming and to the community in general. John Keppie OAM President Kevin Hasemann Chief Executive Officer VALE In 2012/13, Swimming Queensland lost Life Member Mr Bill Willis OAM. Bill will be fondly remembered for giving swimming over 50 years of service as a volunteer. He was also a Life Member of Swimming Australia and Brisbane Swimming, and was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2006 for his work in swimming. 7 P a g e

8 2012 Road to Rio Super Camp TSS, Gold Coast 2012 Indigenous Participation Fun Day Hopevale 8 P a g e

9 TREASURER S REPORT On behalf of the Board of Directors, I submit the Treasurer s Annual Report, together with the audited Annual Financial Report, for the year ended 30 April The Association recorded an operating surplus of $172,600, taking Total Accumulated Funds to $725,544. The most noteworthy changes from last year were: Grants revenue increased by $142,000 largely due to funding from the Australian Sports Commission via Swimming Australia for participation programs Athlete and Coach Development revenue dropped by $89,000 mainly due to less direct funding from the Queensland Academy of Sport and a smaller contribution from ascta (Qld) Membership Development revenue was up by $110,000 because of funding received from Swimming Australia and the Australian Swimming Coaches and Teachers Association for SQ s Making Champion Men DVD and related activities Other Income was down by $85,000 mainly as a result of the re-affiliation of Brisbane Swimming Association Expenditure on Athlete and Coach Development was $112,000 lower principally because the Queensland Academy of Sport directly paid the cost of some of the development services delivered by Swimming Queensland. Once again, around a third of SQ s expenditure on salaries and wages was recouped from other organisations for which it provided professional and administrative services. This very positive financial result is most welcome at a time of growing uncertainty around the level of future government funding for sporting organisations. It has strengthened the Association s liquidity and ensures the sustainability of our significant investment in initiatives for the development of Queensland s swimmers and coaches. I take this opportunity to thank my fellow Finance Sub-Committee members, John Keppie OAM, John Dove and Greg Kukla. Michael Cox Treasurer 9 P a g e

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21 AFFILIATIONS / REGISTRATIONS SEASON Club Previous Current Club Previous Current AB Patterson College SC Chinchilla SC Inc Acacia Bayside SC Inc Clayfield Aquatics SC Inc Academy Swim Club Clermont Dolphins ASC Inc Aitkenvale SS SC Inc Clifton & District ASC Inc Albany Creek SC Inc Cloncurry ASC Inc All Saints SC Inc Collinsville/Scottville SC Inc Allora ASC Inc Commercial SC Inc Alpha ASC Inc Concordia Olympic SC Inc Ashgrove SS ASC Cooktown ASC Inc Aspley SS ASC Cooloola Coast Crocs SC Inc Atherton SC Inc Coolum Peregian SC Inc Augathella SS ASC Coopers Burleigh Aquatic SC Inc Australian Crawl SC Inc Cooroy Dolphins SC Inc Ayr ASC Inc Coorparoo SS SC Barcaldine ASC Inc Cotton Tree SC Inc Beaudesert SC Inc CQ Aquajets SC Inc Beenleigh SC Inc Craigslea Schools Aquatic Club Bellbowrie SC Inc Crescent Lagoon SS ASC Bethania Aquatic SC Inc Crows Nest & Distrct ASC 0 64 Biggenden Barracudas SC Inc Cunnamulla ASC Inc Biloela ASC Inc CYMS St Edmund's SC Inc Birkdale Breakers SC 4 4 Dalby & District SC Inc Blackall ASA Inc Dayboro & District ASC Inc Blackwater ASC Inc Dimbulah ASC Inc Bond Swimming Club Dunlop Park SC Boonah ASC Inc Dysart SC Inc Boondall ASC 0 5 East Brisbane SC Bowen SC Inc Edge Hill ASC Boyne Tannum SC Inc Eidsvold Swim Club Inc Bracken Ridge & Dist Aquatic Club Inc Electric Eels SC Inc Bribie Island SC Inc Emerald ASC Inc Brisbane Grammar Swimming Club Emmanuel Bluefins SC Brisbane Jets SC Inc Emu Park SC Inc Bundaberg ATW SC Inc Eumundi District SC Inc Burpengary SC Inc Fairholme ASC Burrum SC Inc Fairymead SC Inc Caboolture SC Inc Ferny Hills & District SC Inc Cairns Stingrays SC Inc Flinders SC Of Buderim Inc Cannonvale Cannons SC Inc Flyers S C Toowoomba Inc Canungra Social Swim Club Inc Fraser Coast SC Inc Capalaba SPS ASC 8 29 Gardens SC Inc Cardwell ASC Inc 3 7 Gatton SC Inc Caribeae SC Inc Gayndah SC Inc Carina Leagues CJ's SC Inc Geebung SS ASC 0 27 Cecil Plains ASC Inc Gladstone SC Inc Central Brisbane Aquatics Glenden ASC Inc Central Cairns Swimming Inc Gold Coast Nth SC Inc Chandler SC Inc Good Shepherd Aquatic SC Charleville SC Assoc Inc Goombungee & District SC 0 29 Charters Towers ASC Inc Goomeri ASC Inc P a g e

22 Club Previous Current Club Previous Current Goondiwindi SC Inc Marlin Coast SC Inc Grace SC Maroochydore SC Inc Gracemere SC Inc Mary River SC 0 94 Graceville ASC Inc Maryborough SC Inc Grovely State School SC Miami SC Inc Gullivers Coomera S C Inc Miles & District ASC Inc Gympie SC Inc Millmerran SC Inc Gympie South ASC Inc Mirani SC Inc Helensvale SC Inc Monto SC Inc Herbert River ASC Inc Moranbah Highlanders SC Inc Hervey Bay SC Inc Morven SC Inc Highfields ASC Inc Mountain Creek Mooloolaba SC Inc Holland Park SS ASC Mt Larcom SC Inc 41 2 Home Hill SC Inc Mudgeeraba ASC Inc Hughenden ASC Inc Mundubbera ASC Inc Imbil District ASC Inc Murgon ASC 0 9 Indooroopilly SS ASC Nambour ASC Inc Inglewood SC 0 32 Nanango ASC Inc Injune SC Nerang ASC Inc Innisfail Swimming Inc Newmarket Racers SC Inc Ipswich Grammar SC Inc Newtown SC Inc Ipswich Vikings SC Inc Noosa SC Inc Isa Heat Swim Club Normanton SC Inc Isis District SC Inc Nudgee Brothers SC Inc Ithaca Creek SC Oakey & District ASC Inc Jamboree Heights SC Inc Orcas Swim Academy Jandowae ASC Inc Ormiston College SC Inc Jindalee SC Inc Padua ASC Inc John Carew Penguins SC Inc Palm Beach Currumbin SC Inc John Paul College Aquatics Pelican Waters Caloundra SC Inc Julia Creek ASC Inc Pine Rivers Comm Aquatics Club Kandanga & District ASC Inc Pioneer ASC Inc Kawana Waters SC Inc Pittsworth & District ASC Inc Kennedy Pacific SC Inc Quilpie ASC Kilcoy SC 0 58 Rackley Swim Team SC Inc Kilkivan District ASC Inc Railways SC Inc Killarney ASC Inc Rainbow Beach SC 0 41 Kingaroy SC Inc Redcliffe Leagues SC Inc Kokoda Spirit SC Redlands SC Inc Kolan SC Inc Richmond ASC Inc Lake's Swimming Inc River City SC Lawnton SC Inc Rocky City SC Inc Logan Vikings SC Inc Rolleston SC Inc Logan West Community SC Inc Roma SC Inc Longreach ASC Inc 43 5 Rosewood District ASC Inc Lowood & District SC Inc Runcorn SS ASC Mackay SC Inc Saints SC Inc Malanda SC Inc Samford ASC Inc Maleny SC Inc Sandgate SC Inc Mareeba SC Inc SBU Saints SC Marist Ashgrove SC Inc Scenic Rim SC P a g e

23 Club Previous Current Club Previous Current Sheldon Swim Club Townsville Brothers SC Inc Somerset Hills SS ASC Townsville Marlins SC Inc Somerset SC (Gold Coast) Townsville Tourist ASC Inc Southern Cross SC Trinity Lutheran College SC Southport Olympic SC Inc TSS Aquatics SC Southside Aquatics Club Inc Tully SC Inc Southside Rockets SC Inc Wallumbilla SS SC Springsure ASC Inc Wandoan SC Inc St George ASC Inc Warwick SC Inc St Hilda's Community SC Inc Waterworx ASC Inc St Peters Western ASC Inc Weipa SC Inc Stanthorpe AS & Life Saving Club Inc Wellers Hill SS ASC 8 4 Sunnybank SC Inc Wellington Point Allstars SC Inc Superfish SC Inc West Brisbane Aquatics Surat SS ASC West End SC Inc Surfers Paradise SC Inc Western Suburbs (Gladstone) SC Inc Tambo SC Inc Whites Hill SC Tara ASC Inc 7 28 Whitsunday SC Inc Taroom ASC Wilston SS ASC TAS Swimming Inc Winton SC Inc Tewantin Noosa ASC Inc 0 44 Wondai ASC Inc Texas ASC Inc Woodford Aquatic Club Inc 27 7 The Gap SS ASC Woogaroo SC Inc The Glennie SC Inc Woongoolba Amateur Swimming Club Theodore SS ASC 0 63 Yeppoon SC Inc Tieri ASC Inc Yeronga Park SC Inc REGIONS Brisbane SA Inc Central Queensland SA Inc Darling Downs SA Inc Far North Queensland District SA Inc North Queensland SA Inc Swimming Gold Coast Inc Wide Bay Regional SA Inc SEASON Clubs/Associations Total Registrations 20,572 20,623 Life Members P a g e

24 REGIONAL REPORTS President: Suellen Hardie BRISBANE SWIMMING ASSOCIATION INC. Secretary: Gloria Williams It is my privilege to present the 2012/13 annual report for Brisbane Swimming. This season saw the election of a new Management Committee and the reaffiliation of the association with Swimming Qld. One of the most visible achievements has been the adoption of a new logo, designed by Christian Sprenger. We thank Christian for his ongoing creative work, including a new-look website which is nearing completion. Brisbane swimmers have performed with distinction on the international stage. 4 Brisbane swimmers and 3 coaches represented us at the London 2012 Paralympics: Brenden Hall (400m Free) and Blake Cochrane (100m Breaststroke) were Gold Medallists, each setting a new World Record; Daniel Fox (200m Free) won a silver medal. 21 swimmers represented Australia at the London 2012 Olympics, supported by 4 Brisbane coaches, with individual medals won by Alicia Coutts (2 silver 100m Fly, 200m IM), Christian Sprenger (silver 100m Breaststroke), Emily Seebohm (silver 100m Backstroke) and Bronte Barrett (bronze 200m Free). 11 of our swimmers returned home with relay medals. Well done to all these swimmers and coaches. Brisbane is rightly proud of you. There was local and national success for many Brisbane clubs this season. The following clubs placed in the top 10 at the Australian Championships: St Peters Western (3), Nudgee Brothers (4), Yeronga Park (6) and Chandler (9); while East Brisbane (6) and Nudgee Brothers (9) placed in the top 10 at Australian Age. In our own premiership competition, the following clubs won their divisions: Chandler (Premier), Redcliffe Leagues (1 st ), Brisbane Grammar (2 nd ), Central Brisbane (3 rd ), Rackley (4 th ) and Samford (5 th ). As well as the Junior and Senior Metropolitans, Short Course, Open Water, Sprint and Relay Championships, the region also conducted a series of A Grade qualifying meets throughout the season. 16 different clubs hosted these meets over 7 weekends, for which total nominations of 28,586 were received. Our regional development program included activities held at Lawnton, with guest speaker Trent Grimsey, English Channel crossing record holder and the Developing Medley Excellence day at St Peters Western. Bronte Barratt, Ned McKendry and Libby Trickett were the guest speakers whilst Jan King, Michael Bohl and Mark Lorrimer were the facilitators of the event. The major development event of the season was the Swimming Excellence Forum for JX swimmers, coaches and parents, conducted (eventually, after the fire evacuation) at the Chandler velodrome. The audience was treated to informative and entertaining interviews conducted by coach Dean Boxall with Olympians Cate Campbell, Christian Sprenger, Melanie Schlanger, Kylie Palmer, Mitch Larkin, and Chris Wright and Paralympians and World Record holder Brenden Hall. Thanks to those elite swimmers for their time and inspiration, and also to Trudee Stafford, Alice Tait and the SQ office staff for the organisation of the event. Acacia Bayside swimmer Lily Price was the lucky winner of the trip for 2 to Adelaide for the Australian Championships. Her delightful letter of thanks and photos can be seen on the Brisbane Swimming Facebook page. Brisbane region is well represented in the numerous teams selected for upcoming international competition. We wish them all the best as they travel variously to Dubai, for the 2013 World Junior Championships; to Montreal for the IPC World Championships; to Barcelona for the World Championships; to Kazan, Russia for the World University Games; and to the US Open. The 2012/13 season was fittingly wound up at our Awards Presentation function held at the Brisbane Convention Centre. Congratulations to all the award recipients. In particular, I would like to mention Jill Ryan, awarded the Swimming Queensland Award of Excellence for her years of service to swimming in Queensland; and David Meyrick, named the Brisbane Swimming Official of the Year. The swimmers who took away the major awards were President s Award winner Shayna Jack of Chandler, for her 3 gold and 1 silver medals at the Australian Age Championships, who was presented with her trophy by former Brisbane president, Glen Bigg; and Taylor McKeown, of Australian Crawl, who won the 2012/13 Rising Star Award for her 3 bronze medals at the Australian Championships, where she was selected on the Australia A team to compete at the US Opens in July, and her 3 gold and 1 silver at Australian Age. Brisbane Swimming is indebted to its sponsors, Vorgee and McDonald s. We greatly appreciate their ongoing financial support as well as their regular attendance at our meets and other events. The region is very fortunate in its band of technical officials and volunteers, who spend so many weekends of the year poolside, providing our swimmers with the opportunity for competition, whether at local club nights or the Metropolitan Championships. Finally, I would extend my thanks to the Management Committee: Peter Crane, Gloria Williams, Louisa Forrester, Ray Clarson, Warren Grainger, David Gregory, Michael Lane and Mark Lorrimer for their commitment to swimming in the Brisbane region. 24 P a g e

25 Suellen Hardie, President President: Gary Knight CENTRAL QUEENSLAND SWIMMING ASSOCIATION INC. Secretary: Jenny Smith With the season drawing to a close, it is with great pleasure that I present the annual report for the Central Queensland Swimming Association. Once again I would like to thank the committee for their support over the last season. I would also like to acknowledge the commitment and personal sacrifice that these wonderful people have freely provided to swimming in our region. The addition of the extra committee members this year has brought new ideas and a broader reference across the region. Although these positions were deemed nonvoting positions for this season, the committee has decided to elevate all 10 committee positions to full voting positions for the upcoming season. It was felt that by doing this we would introduce a better dynamic that was more flexible to fit the Association s needs. Unfortunately, due to my changing personal situation I will be standing down as your President, and wish the new committee all the best for the upcoming season. I strongly believe that regular small changes to the committee will allow for a continued development of the Association that is not disrupted by mass changes of the likes that have happened in the past. I will be putting my hand up for the lesser role of Publicity Officer for the upcoming season and whether elected or not, will be there to offer support for new committee members as required. One of our big initiatives this year was to make and run a television advertisement throughout the London Olympic broadcasts. It was a great opportunity for many of swimmers to become television stars, with most local clubs talking part in the production. By all reports it was well received and resulted in an increase in hits on our web site from around 29hits/day last season to more than 100 hits/day. This increase was maintained throughout the season and only dropped back after the CQ Championships early March. Whether it was due to our advertisement or the follow on from the Olympics, but we enjoyed an increase in membership which had almost reversed our loss of the previous year. It was good to see a marked improvement in competitive swimmers this season, also, which seemed to come from the conversion of a portion of our noncompetitive member numbers. Most swim meets seemed to reflect the increase in our competitive swimmers which is a good result for all. Although our development plan didn t quite go as planned, we were able to run a number of programs that were well received by our swimmers. The development weekend that was planned for Longreach had to be cancelled due to the change in lessee not being finalized in time. Although we hoped to reschedule this event a lack of available dates made it impossible. Of the clinics that did go ahead our first was the winter camp held in Bundaberg over the middle weekend of the June/July school holidays. Thirty swimmers from the YPS and JX Gold that turned 11 yrs attended this camp. The aim of the camp was to bring the swimmers together to train, and to bond as a group of likeminded athletes with common goals. The camp was a great success for both athletes and coaches alike. During the September holidays, the same group of swimmers were invited to attend a combined training camp with North Queensland. The camp was conducted in Rockhampton with sessions at the new Southside Pool on the Saturday, and then the CQ University pool on the Sunday. During January, two clinics were conducted for our JX Swimmers. They were held on the same day - one in Rockhampton and the other in Gladstone. Both clinics were well attended. The Coaches that attended these clinics reported that they were pleased with the skill level demonstrated by our future stars. During March, Paul Connelly and Coach Graham Simpson travelled to Moura to conduct a clinic for the Callide Dawson clubs. This clinic was opened up to all swimmers that were able to perform at least 25 meter repeats 25 P a g e

26 in all four competitive strokes. This event was targeted as a skill based clinic with an emphasis on developing all four strokes. One of the disappointing aspects of our development plan, for this season, was not getting to deliver clinics to the Central Highlands and the Central West Districts. This will be addressed in the upcoming season with talks already being held with a number of coaches in the region. The Committee elected to subsidise the cost of sending our coaches to the ASCTA Conference this year. Thirteen coaches took advantage of our offer, at a cost of $7, The committee decided that it would be good to help develop our coaches which would in turn bring improved skills back to the home programs for the benefit of all our swimmers no matter what level they were at. By all reports, the coaches that took advantage of this offer felt that it was a worthwhile exercise. These sorts of programs would not be possible without the generous support of McDonald s and the $0.50 levy introduced last season. I was again fortunate enough to attend the Blackall swim meet and extend this trip to include Winton and Longreach programs the following week. It was great to see how Blackall had turned their club around since my last visit. I was really pleased with the enthusiasm and the ability to work with all stake holders to get their club back on their feet. Well done to the committee and its willing helpers. It had been a long time since I had visited the Winton pool and was pleased to see the upgrades that had occurred since my last visit some 29 years ago. My thanks go to Coach Ang Porter for her time and hospitality while I was in town. After leaving Winton I headed back to Longreach to catch up with Coach Shane Uprichard, the new lessee. I am pleased to report that the Longreach program is in good hands and look forward to seeing how it develops in the coming years. On the return trip I dropped in to inspect the development of the Emerald Aquatic Centre. This project has been well thought out and remains on target to be completed by August this year. A big congratulation goes to Shane Kingston and his team at Rocky City with their successful Open Nationals Campaign. Alanna Bowles and their 4x200 freestyle relay Team (Miranda Bell, Alanna Bowles, Kate Hudson, Karleigh Banks) both took silver medals. These are our first Open Australian Championships medals for many years. As a result of this successful campaign, both Alanna and Shane have been selected in the Georgina Hope Swimming Foundation FINA Junior World Championships team for Dubai. It is great to see our local coaches and swimmers achieving success from local programs. We also had 15 swimmers from 6 Clubs attend the Age Nationals in Adelaide. Alanna Bowles again made a splash by taking 5 gold medals. This is the second year in a row that she has achieved this result. Our age National swimmers are listed below. CQ Aquajets Emu Park Jared O'Hanlon Arna Couper Gladstone Andrew Mclean Patrick Crowe Jack Cartwright Michael Pacheco Ayden Tchernegovski Rongo Goodhew Rocky City Alanna Bowles Karleigh Banks Kate Hudson Gracemere Matilda Phelan Cooper Blackwood SBU Saints Jeremy Walsh Mitchell Barlow We also had Joshua McErlean from the Rocky City club compete in the Multi Class age nationals. And like all our swimmers he did our region proud. 26 P a g e

27 No report would be complete without thanking our hardworking officials for their unselfish support of our region s swimmers. Our swim meets could not go ahead without their efforts. Once again I would like to make a special thanks to Dean Rogers for his work in recruiting new Technical Officials and mentoring them through their development. I would also like to make a special thanks to Susan Brown for her work as Meet director for the Region. Without her experience and hard work our Championship meets would not run so smoothly. In conclusion, I would like to thank all our members for the support they have given me over the last two years and trust you will provide the new President with continued support in the upcoming season. Remember that your committee are all volunteers making decisions on your behalf and doing the best they can with the information given to them. Your constructive input into that decision making is always welcome. It is the positive efforts of all members that make this region what it is and I trust you will all work together to continue our region s development. Gary Knight, President President: Ric Whiting DARLING DOWNS SWIMMING ASSOCIATION INC. Secretary: Judy Dickinson This region had a big as the Association celebrated 50 years, with the climax being the Presentation night. Now the members of the Management Committee work with members of various Subcommittees and a whole range of technical, professional and voluntary providers to assist with the planning for the upcoming season to continue to take the region forward. Sponsorship The association would like to thank our Major sponsor McDonald s Family Restaurants along with our other sponsor Fastlane for their support. For without this support and donations from other members we would not be able to continue to strive to develop the sport of swimming across the Region. Development A development weekend for our JX qualifiers was held on the 27 th October 2012 at Fairholme Aquatic Centre. It was another great success. Over 90 swimmers attended from all over the region including swimmers from as far as Quilpie, which was a great effort. The day was full of informative tips from local swimmers with Jack Selman and Lauren Torr opening the day with inspirational talks and answering questions from swimmers and parents. The swimmers were then split into two groups with Jack and Lauren joining in with them in land and DVD activities. Then after lunch the swimmers were treated to a pool session with Olympic swimmer Kenrick Monk and North Queensland coach Glenn Beringen and other coaches from the Downs. Kenrick demonstrated the skills required and then the swimmers tried to copy the skills as best they could. Starts and streamlining was a major focus for the water session. The swimmers then raced Kenrick in a 4 x 25m relay and then the day finished on a high note with the mercantile relay. This was another great day for JX swimmers across the downs. Thank you to all who assisted on the day and a special thank you to Gail Smail and David Negus from Fairholme, for their assistance. On Sunday the 28 th October, DDRSA hosted the SQ YPS, JDS and Bronze Squad swimmers from the Darling Downs in a half day clinic. Coach Glenn Beringen from Queensland swimming and Olympic gold Medallist Cate Campbell attended and coordinated the day. The swimmers were treated to a special chat with Cate and all got to see her recent Olympic gold medal. She talked of the highs and lows in her swimming career and she talked about her hunger to continue in the sport. The swimmers then hit the pool for a quality session with Glenn who was able to get more from the swimmers than they thought they were capable of. Thank you to the Academy Swim Club, who provided lunch for swimmers, coaches and technical officials who attended the clinic. A coaches clinic was also held with Swimming Queensland s Nick Smith (Coaching-Science Development Officer) and coach Glenn Beringen. Those in attendance were treated to some interesting information from Nick to help aid with their programs and swimmers. A Technical Officials clinic was also held with Bob Kretchmann and David Sondergeld providing information to the members on becoming a Technical Official. This is a big weekend and the corner stone for our development activities. 27 P a g e

28 The weekend of th September was set aside for the Region s Club Development program. This weekend ensured the provision of suitable education and support programs for the administrators and officials on the Darling Downs. Saturday saw a successful Registrar s forum thanks to Dinah from Swimming Queensland and after lunch an Officials forum was held. Then on Sunday a Team Manager/Meet Manager Workshop was held. The Management committee considers the development of club Administrators, Coaches and Technical Officials an important part in developing swimming. A clinic was also held for all country swimmers Sunday morning after a very hectic Country Championships and a hot one at Goondiwindi. It was well attended by 34 members who took advantage of having Garry Shorter on deck with Gail Smail. Garry Shorter brought the club s underwater camera and put the swimmers through basic techniques and then recorded some swimmers using the underwater camera, which is a great feedback tool for young swimmers. The swimmers spent 2 hours of water work and then were treated to lunch before the long drive home for some. This is a very broad region, it is difficult and costly for everyone to attend these clinics but it was great to see swimmers and parents travel these huge distances to support these events. It would also not be possible to hold these activities without the generosity of the Coaches, Officials and administrators as many do not charge the Association for their expenses. Regional Events This season has been a season with some terrible weather, mostly just a bit of rain but again some flooding which did have an impact on the Region s major meets, including the cancellation of the Regional Championships. The Country Championships were well organised and supported. The Goondiwindi club as the host for this meet are to be congratulated. It was very pleasing to see the number of coaches and Technical Officials who supported this meet. Notably, the performance of our swimmers at this meet has been excellent in terms of both times and technical standard, as evidenced by the very low rate of disqualification. This has been apparent in all age groups and builds on clearly evident improvement over recent years. Presentation Night The presentation night was held at the Highfields Cultural Centre on the 23rd March, The night was well represented with about 217 members attending with swimmers, parents, coaches, officials and volunteers comming together to celebrate the successes of the season. The guest speakers were Alastair Bell, Alice Tait and Gregor Tait. From the feedback received everyone was very impressed with how entertaining the guest speakers were. The common theme about the guest speakers they were so inspirational. The Association appreciates them giving up their time to give us a great night. A special thankyou must also go the Marvyen Whittaker (MC) and David White with the Subcommittee that organised the night. Regional Teams The teams selected from this Region this season were the State Relay and Patrons Shield teams. The Selectors Subcommittee thanks the swimmers, coaches and parents for their support. We thank Jenny Veivers and fellow members of the subcommittee for their work and dedication to make these selections work. The results were really pleasing this year with a couple of teams but not all filled with replacements. Congratulations Alan Gibson was our region s winner of the Swimmer of the Year award. Thankyou Two members have not nominated for the Management Committee for They are Rhonda Sondergeld and Judy Dickinson. Both have been valued members of the Management Committee over several years and can be relied on to give clear direction and advise. We thank them for their diligence in supporting the Region Conclusion DDRSA recognises the great effort of Officials, Volunteers, Coaches, Parents and Swimmers. It takes a great team to make our association so successful. Well done. The Association would also like to thank the Swimming Queensland staff for their support and lastly the Association would like to thank the general swimming community for support to the regions club s and members. Ric Whiting, President 28 P a g e

29 President: Ron Tong FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND SWIMMING ASSOCIATION INC. Secretary: Kim Siegmann This year marked several achievements that were unimaginable several years ago. I believe these achievements will set the scene to allow this Association to go from strength to strength if managed correctly. The achievements that I speak of, include the management rights of not one but two of the key public pools in Cairns, by an entity owned 100% by Far North Queensland Regional Swimming Association. Strategically the first pool has allowed us to gain a positive income stream on an ongoing basis and the second pool places us in the frame to be part of the redevelopment of an old pool and strategically positioned to be part of the sports tourism strategy evolving in this region. The Regional Council is very pleased with our performance and this will only further enhance our position as we satisfy not only Council but Community goals in relation to pool operations. From a swimming perspective we were very successful in holding a high profile invitational event with the help of ex local and Olympian Chris Wright, whose idea we were able to bring to fruition. The event allowed average swimmers to not only get the opportunity to meet and talk to medal winning Olympians like Mel Schlanger, Christian Sprenger and Alice Mills, as well as Olympians Cam McEvoy and Gregory Tate, but also the thrill to say they had raced them at their best strokes. We were able to raise the profile of swimming in the city to the point that everyone knew they were in town and we had over 50 local businesses involved not only in sponsorship but swimming against the Olympians as well. I cannot speak highly enough of these ambassadors of our sport and how freely they gave of their time not only to speak to our swimmers and sponsors, but to get in the pool and play with the youngest of swimmers. The feedback from parents has been extremely positive with parents speaking of how it has changed perspectives and attitudes of their children. Our intention is to make this an annual event. The previously mentioned event I believe goes a long way to motivate our swimmers and we continue to see a record member of medals won by swimmers in our region at both State and National championships. We also conducted several coaching sessions with Dean Boxall and Glenn Beringen which were well received and very informative for the coaches that took part in the workshops. This type of experience for our local coaches allows them to continue raising the bar and review their programs to achieve better outcomes for our local swimmers. Regionally we were able to assist Croydon in holding one of their first Swimming carnivals with the capable guidance of Vice President, Tracy Lammert and Treasurer, Kathy Hare through the funding of Swimming Queensland. This season we have also seen Weipa Swim Club as a regular participant at our carnivals, which is great to see our reach spreading. From a sponsorship perspective we would like to acknowledge not only McDonald s Qld for their support but the local McDonald s franchise owners for their willingness to support us in anything they can with a result of us developing a mutually beneficial relationship with them. To finish I would like to sincerely thank Swimming Queensland and in particular the office staff who are always only too willing to assist us when requested. This relationship is continually strengthening and allows us to develop swimming in the region successfully. Lastly I would like to thank my Committee of Tracy Lammert, Kim Siegmann, Kathy Hare, Nick Hill-Murray & Judy Billiau, who gave of their time freely and generously to achieve the outcomes that we have. Without them none of our successes would be possible. Ron Tong, President 29 P a g e

30 President: Alan Johnston NORTH QUEENSLAND SWIMMING ASSOCIATION INC. Secretary: Theresa Manning This season commenced, upon reflection, as a rather packed programme of events. As it turned out, it was just that. Due to the ever reliable volunteers the season was very successful in all facets. With an increase in membership registrations across all areas, 1,967 persons, this was reflected in a marked increase in nominations at our Meets, which in turn contributed to a record number of nominations at the McDonald s North Queensland Swimming Championships. Development The Level 1 JX Development Clinics were held in five various areas, these being Mackay, Proserpine, Richmond, Townsville and Mt Isa. These half-day clinics were conducted by utilising the Coaches within the various designated localities. By all reports, the clinics were well attended and enjoyed by all swimmers. My heartfelt thanks go out to all the Coaches, volunteers, parents and swimmers who attended and assisted. Level 2 JX swimmers were bussed from within the region to assemble for a one day swim meet at Proserpine. This type of development activity appears to be popular and successful with all swimmers and coaches. Level 3 JX. A trip was organised to attend a swim meet in Rockhampton, but this fell short of expectations as numbers dwindled. This is very disappointing to all those who give up so much of their own valuable time to organise, arrange and attend this development. I personally thank everyone who assisted with these development activities. Swim Meets All club regional meets were well attended throughout the season. Attendances have increased and also the standard of swimming. The McDonald s NQ Junior meets were once again popular with those swimmers starting out or attending their first Meet. NQSA Management has decided to increase the number of these meets to three with the introduction of this type of meet at Julia Creek. Mention must be made of the increase in numbers from the North West Queensland Clubs who over the past season have conducted and increased their participation at meets within their area and also attending various away meets. The NQ Regional Championships were conducted on what most thought was the hottest weekend of the year. The Championships attracted record numbers for many years, with some 329 swimmers in attendance. North Queensland Management, Coaches and Technical Officials were excited with the positive approach that was given by all concerned. On behalf of the NQSA Management Committee, I wish to thank all those who assisted before, during, and after, the Championships. At the Championships, we were visited by Mr. Kevin Hasemann, CEO of Swimming Queensland, and Mrs. Carolyn Hayes, SQ Board Member, on the Saturday. Kevin attended as an observer and also to present to Judy Hicks with her Swimming Queensland Life Membership Award. Congratulations Judy. On Sunday our Championships were visited by Paulus Wildeboer, SQ Mentor Coach, and Nick Smith, SQ Coaching-Science Development Officer. All of our distinguished guests were very impressed with the high standard of the meet and the way it was organised and conducted, and also with the standard of the swimmers. Throughout the season many of our swimmers attended international, national and state meets and acquitted themselves very well indeed. Congratulations to these swimmers, parents, coaches and team managers. To Technical Officials who once again unselfishly assisted in the running of all the Meets during the season, we thank you. Some of these officials also attended international, national and state meets to improve their knowledge of swimming and assist in raising the standard of swimming. Awards Life Membership was awarded to Lee Day from the Mackay Swimming Club for her unselfish contribution to NQSA Region and all areas of swimming. At the recently held Australian Swimming Coaches and Teachers Association s Annual Dinner, Pat Wright OAM, Head Coach of the Mackay Swimming Club received from her peers an award for her outstanding contribution and dedication to Australian swimming. 30 P a g e

31 In closing I must say thank you to the President, John Keppie OAM, the Board Members, CEO, Kev Hasemann and the ever reliable and friendly Staff of Swimming Queensland for all the assistance they have given to the Region, also to NQSA Management Committee, Pat Wright, Theresa Manning, Louise Baker and Karen Donnell and other members of the various sub-committees for their assistance during the past season. Alan Johnston, President President: Gerry Epstein SWIMMING GOLD COAST INC. Secretary: Kim Cook It gives me great pleasure to present the Report on the activities of Swimming Gold Coast for the season. Membership Our membership and participation in the sport here on the Gold Coast is continuing to grow. During the season our Region had some 1,607 registered swimmers (competitors and recreational), some 26 registered clubs, 33 coaches, 25 officials, 519 parents, 24 non-swimmers and 11 life members. It is pleasing to note that all categories again show an increase in our numbers from previous seasons. Representation Again our Gold Coast swimmers have excelled at local, state, national and international level. Congratulations to our London Olympic representatives Jade Neilsen (Miami); Leiston Pickett (Southport); Melanie Schlanger (Southport); Thomas Fraser-Holmes (Miami); Ky Hurst (Bond); Cameron McEvoy (Southport); Brenton Rickard (Southport); James Roberts (Somerset); and Christopher Wright (Southport). Particular congratulations to our Region s medallist Mel Schlanger who one gold ( 4 x 100 freestyle relay) and two silver (4 x 100 medley and the 4 x 100 freestyle relay) at the London Olympics. Our Gold Coast swimmers have again done our Region proud with nine of our swimmers being chosen to represent Australia at the 2013 World Championships. Congratulations to Danielle De Francesco (Miami), Bonnie MacDonald (TSS Aquatic), Melanie Schlanger (Southport Olympic), Thomas Fraser-Holmes (Miami), Jordan Harrison (Miami), Cameron McEvoy (Palm Beach Currumbin), Brenton Rickard (Southport Olympic), James Roberts (Somerset), and Chris Wright (Southport Olympic). Congratulations also to Denis Cotterell (Miami) and Richard Scarce (Palm Beach Currumbin), who have been chosen as National Team Coaches for these World Championships. We wish these swimmers the very best of luck in Barcelona. Congratulations to our rising stars who have been selected to represent Australia in the World Junior Championships Blake Jones (Southport Olympic), Luke Percy (Southport Olympic) and Kia Melverton (TSS Aquatic). Glenn Baker (Southport Olympic) has been chosen as a Coach for these Championships. Gold Coast swimmers are also well represented on many other teams selected to represent Australia over the coming months. Region Championships Our Winter Short Course Championships hosted by Southport Olympic Swim Club were held in August 2012 with some 416 competitors (an increase of 22 on the previous year). Our Gold Coast Championships held in March 2013 was hosted by the Miami Swim Club and attracted some 605 swimmers, a massive increase of 229 swimmers on the previous year! Thank you to Southport and Miami Swim Clubs for hosting those meets. Workshop Swimming Gold Coast again conducted our very successful workshop for all clubs hosting meets throughout the season. Attendance at this workshop helps ensure all clubs have up to date information and qualified people to organise their meet thus ensuring a successful event. We will continue to run these informative workshops to help our clubs. 31 P a g e

32 Thank you to our hard working Vice President and Registrar Di Daw for her hard work and dedication for organising and presenting this seminar. Go Club Club of the Year Congratulations to the Helensvale Swim Club who this season was awarded the prestigious Go Club Club of the Year Award. Helensvale, headed by Jon and Kim Cook are a rapidly growing club who are also huge supporters of our Region and our activities. Coaches and the Region Throughout the year our coaches continued with their regular meetings and provided much useful feedback from those meetings to the Regional Committee. Coaches are the vital link between the administrators of clubs and the Region and swimmers and it is very important that there are good lines of communication between these parties so that we can achieve the best possible outcome for our swimmers. Presentation day After a very successful inaugural presentation day in 2011, we held our third presentation day in May Throughout the season points were awarded to swimmers based on number of criteria (including participation in Regional Relay teams at State and participation in our Regional Championships (winter and summer). Swimmers received awards of cash payments, trophies and goods from our sponsor McDonald s in recognition of their achievements throughout the season. The President s Award was this year given to Kia Melverton (TSS) and the Rising Star Award was given to Andrew Ryan (Miami). Both swimmers excelled in their performances throughout the year and we congratulate both Kia and Andrew and congratulate all swimmers and Clubs who received awards on the day. We also extend our gratitude to our guest speaker Christian Sprenger who spoke to our young swimmers about goal setting, training and life in an Olympic village. All present all got the opportunity to hold some of Christian s medals from the London Olympics. Thank you Christian for giving up your time and sharing your experiences. On behalf of the Region, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Di Daw, Michelle Sabotic and Kim Cook for all of their hard work for organising this event. Development Whilst we had 90 swimmers make themselves available, some 42 swimmers were chosen to represent the Region at the Regional Relay Events held at State Titles and we thank those swimmers for their participation. Our swimmers did extremely well coming away with some 12 medals 6 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze. We would also like to acknowledge the huge effort put in by Kim Cook in organising the swimmers for the relay teams. The Region sent 55 swimmers, officials, coaches, managers and technical officials to represent the Region at the Patron s Shield. These swimmers were in the 9 to 13 year old JX group and the trip proved once again to be a great team building exercise. Sponsors and Supporters We would also take this opportunity to sincerely thank our major sponsors in the Region, McDonald s. We would also like to once again thank Reece Rackley and his crew from Blue Fit Leisure and the Gold Coast City Council for their fantastic and ongoing support throughout the season. Officials We thank Alan Smith who this year took on the role of Chief Referee for our Region after the retirement from the position of our long serving and dedicated Karen Macleod who stepped down to concentrate on State duties. We also acknowledge and congratulate Karen on her recent appointment as a judge at the FINA World Junior Championships to be held in Dubai later this year. Well done Karen. 32 P a g e

33 We continue to have a very large group of accredited technical officials here on the Gold Coast and those numbers continue to grow each year. To those 29 technical officials on behalf of our swimmers we thank each and every one of you for the many hours of your time you have freely given to this sport and to our Region. In addition to officiating at local club meets many of our technical officials continue to officiate at school, state and national meets. The Region thanks all of our hardworking technical officials. Swimming Queensland Board As President of Swimming Gold Coast I would like to take this opportunity to also thank Swimming Queensland s CEO Kevin Hasemann and his staff for their help and guidance throughout the season. Kevin and his staff have always made themselves available to the Region and provided much needed advice and guidance throughout the season. Kevin has been a great source of advice for me and I know the staff has been fantastic in the assistance particularly given to our hardworking secretary Kim Cook. Swimming Gold Coast Committee Once again I must acknowledge my indebtedness to the hardworking girls of the Gold Coast Region Di Daw, Kim Cook and Michelle Sabotic. I am sure that the swimmers and clubs out there do not really have any idea whatsoever about how hard these three ladies work for our Region and our swimmers. If they were being properly paid for their work, they would be extremely wealthy now and long since retired. But they do not get paid, they are volunteers who freely give up many many hours of their time to ensure that the Region and our meets run smoothly and in accordance with the rules. On behalf of the Clubs and the swimmers of our Region I would like once again to thank these three ladies and I will mention them again by name - Dianne Daw Vice President, Registrar, and Chief Recorder; Kim Cook Secretary; and Michelle Sabotic Treasurer, for their ongoing support and assistance throughout the season. The Future Our numbers of swimmers and technical officials has grown and continues to grow. Our meet numbers, particularly our Championships have grown. The Southport pool has been demolished and the construction of the new state of the art swimming facility is well under way and due to be completed by May Pan Pacs are coming; the Commonwealth Games are getting closer. What more can we say swimming on the Gold Coast has a bright future and much to look forward to. Gerry Epstein, President President: David Towner WIDE BAY SWIMMING ASSOCIATION INC. Secretary: Linda Hodkinson General This year was certainly a difficult year for all people involved with swimming within Wide Bay with rain and floods affecting pools and meets. Our Wide Bay Championships nearly was a wash out with rain falling during all sessions. The days went well with much help from all concerned with everybody happy that it still went ahead. Some people even commented to me that all the meets that they attended this swimming season were either raining or showery. The floods during the season did lots of damage to pools and some swimmer s and club s seasons were quite disrupted or people s priorities were with more important issues. Wide Bay Short Course Championships Wide Bay held our Short Course Championships on the Sunshine Coast in August. This meet was held in conjunction with the Wide Bay Presentation Dinner. The format of Saturday lunch time start, then Presentations in a nearby hall early evening, with the Sunday morning swimming to end is working well. The facilities at Mt Creek had what we required. Special thanks to the Mountain Creek club with their help over this weekend. Development Program 33 P a g e

34 Our development program is offered to many and to various skill levels of our swimmers, with over 300 swimmers offered places in our squads and camps, and many more offered places in SQ and SAL programs. Special thanks go to Michele Watson for all her work in organising all these squads and camps. With her role as development officer, swimmers receive squads organised very well with a great emphasis on learning new and varied skills. The JX swimmers all received their swimmer packs via their clubs from Swimming Queensland. Junior Skills clinics were held in Burnett Fraser, Sunshine Coast and South Burnett. Early Achievers and Achievers attended the Sunshine Coast qualifying meet held at Flinders in July, with swimmers enjoying a day camp the day before at Camp Mudjimba. All will remember the muddy obstacle course as well as the great talk by Blake Cochrane about his swimming career, including the Paralympics. What a great weekend with great team spirit and swimming friendships started with some. The Development Squad competed at the NZ Short Course Champs in Wellington, with most getting great PB s and some medals. The Wide Bay relay teams competed very well at the State Relays. With representation in nearly all events, we are getting great response in representing our region. Maybe it is the receival of the pink cap that gets them there. With many medals and some great swims this is a great hit out for many of our swimmers and we are showing our depth to compete against all regions of our state. McDonald s Wide Bay Long Course Swimming Championships Kawana Waters Aquatic Centre was the venue for this event. Many thanks to the Aquatic Centre and the Kawana Waters SC for their help in making this meet to the great event it turned out to be. The event was nearly cancelled with the threat of bad weather with many contingency plans in place, but with talking to my committee and coaches from around the region it was decided to go ahead. The roads were open and the weather was clearing, but the weekend did turn out to be a little wet, but typical of this season, a wet swimming carnival was nothing different. Many thanks to the sponsorship of McDonald s for the age championship towels and the food and drinks for volunteers. Also to the parent help roster, whose support makes these events successful. Forums Forums are held every quarter in Gympie, which is central in our region. The forums were well attended and informative to all, especially to new clubs and new club committee members. We had talks from the Children s Commission about Blue Cards, and presentations about the online system and club development. The networking at morning tea and lunch is great with many questions and problems facing clubs answered with a casual chat. The forums create an atmosphere that is non-threatening with a emphasis on swimmers and support as needed. Due to flooding and resulting devastation, one of our forums was cancelled with priorities for some families changed. New Venues Maryborough Aquatic Centre has been getting redeveloped over the last season. It was nearly complete when the floods damaged their new pool. It has been a hard slog for the swimmers who use this pool, with the Hervey Bay facilities offering help. It is hopeful that the next season with new facilities that stability and growth for these clubs will continue. The covering of the Hervey Bay pool 25 metre pool will also improve this facility. Clubs and Carnivals The wet weather impacted on a lot of clubs, with their club nights being cancelled and then carnivals being wet. With these committees and coaches working towards improving swimming in our region, we are looking forward towards a normal season, weather wise. Many carnivals received great nominations and attendance from local clubs. The networking between clubs to successfully run meets and the meets offering Timing as Semi Automatic and Automatic is great. Technical Officials Congratulations to all the people progressing around our region. With the help of Bobbi and Paddy we have had an increase in accreditations. With the help of Dale, Debbie, Bill, Ray and Stan as Referees we are trying to improve our Technical Officials list and qualifications. At Forums and meets we are getting more enquiries and accreditations as people want to get involved in their children s sport. 34 P a g e

35 Sponsorship McDonald s has been a great sponsor to Wide Bay Swimming over the last season, supporting our squads, camps and meets. With Age Championship towels and caps and swimming bags offered it has been a great help. Also with goods in kind to offer with food at camps and clinics and for the volunteers at our meets. Committee Members My heartfelt thanks go out to all committee members for their work and dedication for this year. With our planning/budget weekend and hosting forums and meets there is a lot of hard work but a lot of fun and enjoyment achieved with our results. Thanks to Jessica, Linda, Michele, Jodi, Wade, Lyn, Julie and Michelle for your effort. Sincere thanks to Kevin Hasemann and the staff at Swimming Queensland for their ongoing support of Wide Bay. Congratulations to Kevin Thomson of Hervey Bay for receiving the Swimming Queensland Award of Excellence. The planning for the next 12 months is nearly complete and with the help from all clubs there is no reason we cannot keep getting the successes we all strive for. The networking within clubs and the improved relationships between people and clubs is good. David Towner, President 2012 QLD Championships Officials and Volunteers 35 P a g e

36 Design courtesy of: Glen Singleton Swimming Queensland s Platypus Lagoon Website Platypus Lagoon can be accessed directly via or through the SQ website ( 36 P a g e