National Award winner Ron ‘never believed this would happen to me’

Honoured Ron Brewin collected the Swim England Technical Official of the Year National Award and admitted: “I never believed this would happen to me.”

Ron has been involved in swimming for more than 40 years, volunteering at club, county and regional level.

For several years, he has passed on his experience as a professional referee to others and is now responsible for teaching and examining all Leicestershire officials.

After collecting his award at the University of Birmingham’s Great Hall, Ron said: “It’s absolutely amazing.

“I would’ve never believed this would happen to me out of all the officials that work week in, week out and give up their time freely.

“It’s a great honour for me personally to know that what we do for swimming is recognised at ceremonies like this.

“It’s not just working at the galas at the weekend. It’s all the preparation in getting the officials, the garments and everything that goes into it – it’s very time consuming.

“I know a number of the other nominees for this award that we’ve met at galas and it’s just giving something back to the sport that you know other people have done for your kids when they were growing up.

“And as well as all that there’s the enjoyment that comes from it. If I didn’t enjoy it, I wouldn’t do it. There’s such a good rapport with officials at poolside, lots of jokes with each other and it’s just about being a part of that community.

“It’s a culmination of everything that goes year in, year out and I’m just honoured to receive this award.

“I want to thank my children, Karen and Richard, who got me started in the sport and of course my wife, who has to deal with me disappearing to events all the time.

“But it gives her a chance to get the TV remote so I don’t think she minds too much when I’m away.”

Helen ‘overwhelmed’ to be Volunteer of the Year

Volunteer of the Year Helen Dutton said she was ‘overwhelmed’ after being presented with a Swim England National Award.

The ‘tireless’ City of Leeds Diving Club volunteer was the regional lead for the Swim England National Skills Final this year and her ‘diligence, selflessness and passion’ for the sport helped contribute to a successful event.

She is also the North East region’s diving manager and was quick to praise everyone in the diving community.

After receiving her award, Helen said: “I’m overwhelmed to be honest.

“It’s an absolute privilege and I’m thrilled that diving is being represented on this stage.

“National Skills is the highlight for me. To deliver a national event for the first time and engage with Swim England to host it and host it well.

“It’s been a challenging year, too, as because of the time we’ve had away, we’ve had to rebuild a group of volunteers back up, which has been our biggest achievement this year.

“To those volunteers, I would like to say thank you.

“None of our events could happen without you and if anybody thinks they can’t volunteer, or they can’t help, there’s always something you can help with.

“I need to thank everyone involved in any of our teams and clubs across the region for creating such a friendly and welcoming environment.

“We’ve got so many great coaches and incredible kids, too, and I’m so happy that we can support them.”