The 4th - 10th March is NSW Women’s Week and we are featuring some of Swimming NSW’s fantastic women. From coaching to officiating to swimmers and staff we have some great women who pioneer and inspire in our sport and in NSW. Next is Rita Hall who is a Technical Official.
- What inspired you to get involved with Swimming NSW, and how has your journey within the association empowered you as a woman in sports leadership?
Like most people, my involvement in swimming started with my kids. Having gone through Learn to Swim and then Swim Squads, I was thrown into the deep end (no pun intended) once they joined their swim club. As always there was a shoutout for volunteers and I found myself timekeeping on club nights, from there that escalated quite quickly in that the Club Night Race Secretary role became vacant and I stepped into the role. After moving away from committee roles I felt that it was time to focus more on becoming an official, and attending a lot of Swimming NSW meets I am very aware of the officials on pool deck who have given up hours and hours of their time which I am very grateful for and wanted to support them. The relationships I have built with these people have given me the guidance to believe that I can step up and officiate at State level
- As we are in Women’s Week and you are a woman making waves in the swimming community, what initiatives do you champion to promote inclusivity and gender equality within the sport?
For me, it’s all about embracing all swimmers at all levels and abilities. Support one another through the good and bad and work strongly together. My motto has always been treat people how you want to be treated. Within my current club I have used my knowledge to explain how the Multi-Class system works mainly because I want people to know that swimming is such an all inclusive sport. From a gender perspective, there is such a strong representation of both male and female swimmers currently even at club level that I no longer tend to look at it as a ‘gender’ issue - you get out what you put in regardless of gender.
- How do you suggest we navigate challenges and break barriers to encourage more women to pursue roles in coaching, officiating, or administration within Swimming NSW?
There is still a lot of work to be done at Swimming NSW level in regards to this, there needs to be a lot more encouragement of the younger demographic to take on these vital roles. Ex-swimmers should be targeted a lot more for coaching or officiating, they have all the technical experience already. I’d like to see more female family members take on officiating or administration roles, especially those with older swimmers still in the sport. There are a lot of officiating roles behind the scenes that don’t involve you being on pool deck that can be done while still supporting your kids.
- As we celebrate Women's Week, could you share a memorable experience or achievement that highlights the strength and resilience of fellow female swimmers, coaches, or administrators in NSW?
A few standouts for me - these are the women in the sport I have had direct contact with that I admire:
Karen Bentley and Jackie Barck - coaches at Nepean Aquatic Centre. Both taught me a lot. They continue to be my support and guidance and I appreciate the years of knowledge they have. They taught me that we treat each swimmer as individuals, celebrate their achievements and support them through their disappointments
Kathy Thompson - Area Convenor, Metro South West. My Meet Manager/Swim Central mentor. Would have been lost without her in those early days navigating the administration side of running swim meets, especially when Swim Central first came along! Its people like Kathy that work late into the night getting documents prepared, often after their day job is completed. Race week for them is often hell week!
I’d like to say every female swimmer I’ve seen poolside for their strength and resilience if I’m honest! However, there are some swimmers currently I’d like to call out:
Jodie Mead - a swimmer at my current Swim Club (Woy Woy). She displays qualities in a swimmer that I love, she’s strong, she’s humble about her achievements (so far) and she’s supportive and encouraging of all of her team mates whilst still performing herself.
My children - it’s why I’m here! They have faced challenges, they are learning that being in a sport is so much more than PBs, they are learning the importance of getting strong, building resilience and long term relationships. They also don’t realise in their own little way they are breaking down some important barriers in regards to children of colour being in this sport.
- From grassroots to elite levels, how do you envision the future of women's swimming in NSW, and what steps are crucial to ensuring equitable opportunities and recognition for female athletes and leaders in the sport?
More profiling of strong women in our sport, there are so many of them across all levels! We need to recognise that swimming now has people from so many cultures and backgrounds, we live near water, we need to teach our kids to swim. And to get them to swim competitively is a bonus! Am hoping that my profile gives people encouragement that swimming embraces everyone. For athletes there still needs to be more understanding on the changes to a woman’s body when they are training/competing, and I feel there’s a gap there which Swimming NSW needs to still work on. There also still needs to be more visibility of senior female coaches, especially at an elite level. There are so many great female coaches currently on pool deck with so much experience - the ‘Her Sport, Her Way’ programme has been a good start for coaches, it might be an idea to do something similar for all our female officials
