After a short break, the Swimming WA office has reopened and the staff are back hard at work preparing for the 2019 SWA Short Course Season and following summer. During the past few months there has been a great deal of activity for swimming on the International stage. The performance of the Australian swimming team to finish second behind the US at the recent World Championships was simply fantastic! We were delighted to see a Western Australian pulling their weight on the team, with congratulations to UWA-West Coast swimmer Brianna Throssell, for winning gold in the 4x100m Freestyle Relay in a Championship record, and the 4x200m Freestyle Relay in a world record!
As we move into August, there is a lot of work being done in preparation for the opening of the 2019/20 Membership year on Monday, 2 September 2019. We will be working closely with our Clubs as we implement the new General Membership category aimed at attracting new Members that are not currently Members of existing Swimming WA Clubs, who are interested in swimming for fitness rather than pure competition. It is an exciting new initiative and we’re looking forward to working with the Clubs to make it a success for our sport.
The other exciting initiative will be the Westpac Summer League which will kick off in January. This is our growth strategy and again aimed at helping Clubs to grow by that 20 extra Members that we’ve been talking about as part of the new Strategic Plan.
We also have released the 2019/20 SWA Open Water Series Calendar which looks incredibly exciting, with a number of Local Government Authorities and sponsors getting behind what promises to be a wonderful Series. Check the SWA website for dates and venues.
This month we also had some wonderful news with Healthway renewing as a Gold Level Sponsor for the next two years and also Westpac renewing their Gold Level Sponsorship. We’re thrilled to have both Sponsors back on board and we thank you for your continued support.
During July, AIM WA renewed their partnership with Swimming WA for a further three years. Welcome back and thank you for your continued faith in the work that we are doing here at Swimming WA.
Finally, as our Members would be aware, on Monday, 5 August Swimming WA opens its new WestSwim Centre at the Craigie Leisure Centre. On behalf of the Association, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the City of Joondalup CEO, Mr Garry Hunt and his team, for their support of Swimming WA as we continue to expand our Learn to Swim reach teaching thousands of Western Australian kids how to swim in the best possible manner.
Looking forward to a very exciting August and thanking you for your continued support of swimming in Western Australia.
Best wishes,
Louis van Aardt
President
