Eileen humbled to be presented with Harold Fern Award

The winner of the 2019 Harold Fern Award has said she could never have imagined winning the prize.

Eileen Adams was presented with the honour at the Swim England AGM by new President Ian Mackenzie.

She said: “I am truly honoured and also humbled to receive the award.

“I have been present on many occasions when this award has been presented and I could never have imagined myself of ever being a selected recipient.”

Eileen became involved with swimming when her son, David, joined Amersham Swimming Club as an 11-year-old in 1978.

More than 40 years later, Eileen is now an honorary life member of the club.

After initially helping at league and gala events, Eileen became involved with the club’s swimming championships, managing the swimmers’ entry cards.

This led to a role in the organisation of the county swimming championships and assisting with the change from a paper-based system to using the latest technology.

Eileen was a member of the Berkshire and South Buckinghamshire ASA Executive Committee for many years and held a variety of roles, including county assistant championships’ secretary (1989-1995), championships’ secretary (1995-1997) and county president in 1999.

She has been a recipient of the President’s Plate twice for services to the county in 1994 and 2007.

A member of the former Southern Counties ASA swimming committee, Eileen joined the South East Region Swimming Committee from its formation and remains a valued member.

Her involvement includes all the non-technical organisation of the Regional Swimming Championships and she has worked every day of those events since the start of the region.

Eileen was elected president of the South East Region in 2017-18 and has been the proud recipient of the Jeff Cook Memorial Plate, for services to the region, on two occasions.