Gallen and Martin Complete the Swimming Australia Board
Swimming Australia is delighted to announce the appointments of Michelle Gallen and Neil Martin to its Board of Directors, effective immediately.
The appointments were endorsed at week’s Annual General Meeting and came after two Director’s terms, Bruce Havilah and Andrew Baildon, had concluded and come up for re-election.
Michelle Gallen has a long history in swimming at the national level and has completed a PhD in international sports law. She has held leadership roles with the Queensland government for the past five years and will further complement the Board’s current skillset around strategic planning and implementation, and governance.
Gallen was key in the development of a sport and active recreation strategy for the Queensland government and has led strategic planning for QBuild, Sports and Recreation Queensland as well as Triathlon Australia.
With a long involvement in sport, Gallen is actively competing in Masters swimming and is a committee member with River City Masters.
Neil Martin has represented Australia at the 1972 Munich Games and was also a member of the 1973 World Championships swim team.
Previously a Swimming Australia Board member between 2003 and 2008, holding the role as President for four years, he has also been Vice President of the Australian Commonwealth Games Association and Honorary Secretary of the Oceania Swimming Association between 2006 and 2012. It was in these roles that he implemented complex strategic initiatives in both corporate and sports organisations and developed a wealth of policy development experience.
Swimming Australia President, Kieren Perkins, said he was thrilled to welcome Gallen and Martin to the Board.
“The inclusion of Michelle and Neil on the Swimming Australia Board will further enable our sport to move forward with the delivery of the new strategy, given they both bring a wealth of experience in this area.
“We welcome Neil back to the Board after a 13 year absence and look forward to the input both he and Michelle will bring.
“I also wish to acknowledge the services of Andrew Baildon and Bruce Havilah who will depart the Board after serving us well in their terms. They have both been valuable contributors to our sport and we thank them for the time, energy and commitment they have shown swimming. We know they won’t be lost to our sport.”
Gallen and Martin are both looking forward to bringing their special set of skills to the Board over the course of their terms.
“Following the success of the Australian Olympic and Paralympic swim teams in Tokyo, I’m thrilled to return to the Board,” Martin said.
“Swimming Australia is in a strong position to increase marketing activities and capitalise on commercial opportunities and I look forward to building the profile of the organisation as a leader in sport in Australia.”
Gallen echoed Martin’s enthusiasm. “My specialty is in implementation of strategy, governance models and change management with a particular focus on integrity in sport. I look forward to continuing to build the profile of this very special sport, that I love as a lifelong participant”.
The original article can be found here.
