ANNUAL REPORT 2010 - 11 Annual Report 2010 - 11 1 CONTENTS Results Official sponsors Foreword from the Minister for Sport 2010 FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships President’s report 2010 Pan Pacific Championships Chief Executive Officer’s report 2010 Commonwealth Games Commercial and Communications 2010 IPC World Championships High Performance Unit 2010 FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Community Sport 2010 Youth Olympic Games Australian Government 2010 Junior Pan Pacific Championships Conclusion 2011 Arafura Games/Oceania Championships From the stakeholders Records Australian Swimming Coaches and Teachers Association 2010 Telstra Australian Short Course Championship — Champions Australian Swimmers’ Association 2010 State Teams Age Short Course Championships — Champions Swimming New South Wales 2011 Telstra Australian Swimming Championships — Champions Swimming Northern Territory 2011 Australian Age Championships — Champions Official broadcasters Swimming Queensland Australian Age records, 2010–11 Swimming South Australia All Comers Age records, 2010–11 Swimming Tasmania Records created in Australia and overseas — long course, 2010–11 Swimming Victoria Records created in Australia and overseas — short course, 2010–11 Swimming Western Australia Summary of records created in Australa and overseas — 2010–11 Organisation Swimming Australia committee membership Swimming Australia organisational structure as at 30 June 2011 Swimming Australia corporate structure as at 30 June 2011 Swimming Australia Life Members Supporting organisations Membership statistics Athlete ambassadors 2010–2011 Finance: Swimming Australia Ltd Team Lists 2010 Pan Pacific Championships 2010 IPC World Championships 2010 Commonwealth Games 2010 World Open Water Championships 2010 World Short Course Championships 2010 Australia A Tour 2010 Youth Olympic Games Official supplier 2010 Junior Pan Pacific Championships 2010 Trans Tasman Tour 2010 FINA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cups 2010 FINA World Cups 2011 German Open 2011 Arafura Games 2011 Paralympic World Cup Official training base © Swimming Australia Limited 2011 Telstra was a sponsor until 3 May 2011 All images are the property of Delly Carr / Swimming Australia Limited FOREWORD FROM THE MINISTER FOR SPORT PRESIDENT’S REPORT Minister for Sport’s Message With the London 2012 Olympic Games just around the corner, 2010–11 was a building year for Swimming I would like to commend Swimming Australia on an exceptional year in and out of the pool. Australia. The Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games tested our athletes, coaches and support staff to their limits, It is pleasing to see that the sport continues to strive for sustained international success while with focus, determination and grit that saw Australia walk away with a meet-high 54 medals. building solid foundations for the future. A new queen of Australian swimming was crowned in Delhi, with Alicia Coutts winning an amazing five gold The latest Participation in Exercise, Recreation and Sport Survey showed swimming was one of the medals, while Geoff Huegill’s victory in the 100m butterfly capped off an emotional return for one of the sport’s top participation activities in Australia last year, with 2.3 million people swimming nation-wide. true heroes. Paralympic star Matthew Cowdrey also brought the Delhi crowd to its feet when he broke the only In 2010-11 the Australian Government invested an additional $900,000 in the sport to encourage world record for the meet in the men’s 50m freestyle S9. grassroots participation, supporting a more active lifestyle among young people, while also helping At the Pan Pacs in August, Emily Seebohm led the Australian team under the Californian sun, snaring two gold to identify the next generation of Australian swimmers. medals, and was unstoppable on the subcontinent, winning eight medals during the six days of competition. Swimming Australia has also enjoyed outstanding results at the elite level. The Government The past 12 months also saw some familiar faces again don the goggles to reignite their love affair with the committed almost $11 million to continue to support our high performance athletes and teams. black line. Australia’s most successful Olympian, Ian Thorpe, three-time Olympic gold medallist, Libby Trickett, This includes $1.5 million invested in the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) swimming program, and Sydney Olympics star, Michael Klim will join Geoff Huegill on the comeback trail to London. All swimming providing a world class training environment for a number of Australia’s most promising athletes. supporters will be watching with bated breath as these swimming legends attempt to join new young guns, At the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games, Alicia Coutts emerged as the new golden girl of Australian such as James Magnussen and Yolane Kukla, in the battle for Olympic selection. swimming winning five gold medals. The ‘comeback king’ Geoff Huegill clocked the best time of his From a performance standpoint the Australian Swim Team, astutely led by Leigh Nugent and a legion of world- life in the 100m butterfly final, proving at age 31 he’s still got it. Paralympic star Matthew Cowdrey class coaches and support staff, is primed to continue its long legacy of Olympic success in 2012. cruised to victory in a world record time of 25.33 seconds in the 50m freestyle event, and of course Out of the water the sport has undertaken a governance review and is currently working through the findings who could forget the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay team wrestling back the Commonwealth Games of that report. A new strategic plan is on the horizon and a renewed outlook for the sport is being developed. title. The Board saw some changes, with the departure of Olympian Chris Fydler and the arrival of Bruce Sullivan. On top of recent success, the future looks very bright. The outstanding results of our up-and-coming A new venue arrived on the swimming landscape with the opening of the South Australian Aquatic and Leisure athletes in James Magnussen, James Roberts and Ben Treffers is proof that our talent pool is deep Centre in Adelaide, which held its first major event, the Australian Age Championships, in April. This event was and that the Australian swimming system provides a pathway to success. an overwhelming success and Swimming Australia is very excited to see the addition of another quality venue, Swimming Australia received $1 million as part of the Australian Government’s Green and Gold certainly a positive way to progress the sport. project, targeted funding to the nation’s best teams and athletes. This is helping to enhance the The Swimming Australia Board has worked determinedly during the governance review, which will be preparation and daily training environment of our nation’s top swimmers. continuing throughout the next year, to engage all of its stakeholders to find the best working model for I am convinced our Australian Swim Team will continue to spearhead Australia’s international suc- Swimming Australia and its extended swimming community into the future. Swimming Australia is acutely cess as we look ahead to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and beyond. aware that if it is not prepared to allow for change and encourage new ways of thinking, it will be left behind, The future of Australia’s swimming success is in good hands, and the government looks forward and with the London Games hurtling towards us, this is no time to be floundering. to continuing to strengthen the partnership for the betterment of Australian sport. I would like to thank the stakeholder Presidents and Executive Directors. The valuable support they provide to the national body, partnered with the expert guidance of the respective states, continues to push swimming to the forefront of Australian sport. The hard work of Swimming Australia’s Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Neil, and the Swimming Australia staff is incomparable, and I thank them for all their dedication and commitment over the past 12 months. Mark Arbib Minister for Sport David Urquhart President 4 Swimming Australia Annual Report 2010 - 11 5 CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S REPORT Media It has been a turbulent and successful year for Swimming Australia and a time for consolidation within the The search for eyeballs, ratings, advertising dollars and exclusive stories has made the media more insatiable sport. The organisation has had highs and lows, and in the face of adversity we model our behaviour on our and competitive than ever for regular quality content. Facebook, Twitter, 24-hour news networks, iPads, online swimmers, and keep plugging away. With several key changes within the organisation in regard to staffing, papers, magazines, digital radio, and seemingly any story on demand — the way people consume their media sponsorship levels and aquatic strategy, including pool space, we have refocused our attention on what we continues to evolve, and when it comes to promoting swimming we must do the same. want to deliver well beyond the next 12 months. The competition in the market, and the speed at which news travels, means the media landscape is a very dif- With the departure of our principal sponsor in May 2011, Swimming Australia has worked tirelessly to keep ferent beast to what it was ten years ago or even ten months ago, and comparing coverage now to then is like the organisation on track and in a strong position. The increased levels of Australian Government grants have comparing breaststrokers with backstrokers. With social media we have the opportunity to tell our stories direct sustained existing programs, and also allowed for the development of new and exciting initiatives for the sport to those who are most interested, and we need to evolve in this area. Online, both internally at www.swimming. in the areas of indigenous and Paralympic performance. org.au and with our broadcast partner Network Ten, we need to provide fast, accurate and entertaining content, and we are working hard to achieve this. A new Indigenous Swimming Program is well into its planning phase, forming part of the Community Sport Plan.