Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to speak about the successful year of The Hills Swimming and Life Saving Club in my electorate of Mitchell. The club was formed in early 1967 with the name ‘The Hills Amateur Swimming Club’. The word ‘amateur’ was, of course, compulsory in those days. In 1998 it was changed to ‘The Hills Swimming Club’, and then, in 2006, to ‘The Hills Swimming and Life Saving Club. It is based centrally in Baulkham Hills and run by a fantastic committee of volunteers. It used to be the biggest swimming club in New South Wales, with over 700 members in the seventies. The lifesaving club, of course, is affiliated with the Royal Life Saving Society, whose headquarters is in my electorate of Mitchell. Classes have been held for the first season this year

I want to offer congratulations on the presentation this year of the Derek Emery trophy to Eleanor Marshall and the Denis Robertson Award to Chelsea Podrow. One hundred and ninety-five club records were broken in the 2009-10 season. The club captains for swimming this year are Andrew Payne and Eleanor Marshall. The club captains for lifesaving are Ben Fishburn and Tiarna Jones. It was fantastic to attend the presentation, along with around 200 parents and committed volunteers.

Club membership is growing. It is such a fantastic club, and I want to congratulate all of the parents, the hardworking coaches and staff at the club, the committee, the dedicated volunteers, the swimmers and, of course, the life members—the life members being Graham Taylor, Alan Kerruish, Pauline Alan, Bernie Boyle, Marilyn Tobin, Damian Hofman and Melanie Williams. This is a fantastic club. It fits in with the fine tradition of volunteerism in my electorate, and I endorse it thoroughly in the 2009-10 season.

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