At the Diving WA Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on Saturday 24^th October, Jaco Rousseau and Phil Ward were elected by the members to the Diving WA Board. Both positions became vacant following the retirement of long-standing Board members Mel McCoy and Fiona Galvin. We thank Mel for her long standing through the associations Governance and Structural Reform and providing her expertise and knowledge on both the Honours and Awards Committee and the Competitions Committee. We also thank Fiona Galvin for her commitment to reviewing the Association’s budget and books and getting them in pristine condition ready to now be managed by the Diving Australia bookkeeper, and her involvement with both the Social and Finance and Audit Committees.

Jaco has been involved with Diving WA for the last 5 years as a diving parent and a level 3 diving judge. He has been volunteering at diving competitions throughout this period. Professionally Jaco is an Industrial Engineer, specialising in simulation modelling with over 25 years’ experience working in the corporate and management consulting environments. Besides being very technical and analytical minded, he has a wealth of knowledge of corporate systems, governance, control, and project management as well as engaging with external contractors. He has a passion for sport and will bring fresh ideas to the table, serve the broader diving community through positive contributions, and represent the current and future members at board level.

Phil’s journey with diving began in 2011 when his child was selected in the junior elite diving pathway and continued his involvement as a judge in most WA competitions. Phil also has experience with judging at many National level competitions and has acted as Chief Referee for several Diving WA events. He has also actively participated in the DWA Competitions Committee. Professionally Phil has more than 25 years of experience as a scientist with CSIRO, where he became a team leader. In this role, he was responsible for negotiating and managing large, multi-partner projects, collaborating with many teams of people in the process. He intends to bring this knowledge and experience to the board of Diving WA, along with skills in project negotiation and management, to drive the sport of diving forward in WA and also to give back to the sport that played such an important part in his child’s teenage years.

At this years AGM we also confirmed our inaugural Diving WA Hall of Fame inductee, Bruce Prance OAM. The Hall of Fame was developed to recognise members who have competed, coached, or officiated at the highest level of competition (Olympics, World Championships or Commonwealth Games). Contributions addressing the criteria from the Hall of Fame Policy:

• Over 70 years involvement in diving as competitor, coach, administrator, referee, and judge
• Helped form the Western Australian Amateur Diving Association in 1957.
• Australian Coach 1964 Tokyo and 1988 Seoul Olympics
• Inaugural AIS Diving Coach
• President of Diving Australia from 1984-1986
• Life Member of Diving WA and Diving Australia
• Awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2000
• Inaugural winner of the Olympians Club of WA Outstanding Contribution Award in 2012
• Presented the RAC Insurance Service to Sport Award at the 2016 WA Sports Star Awards
• Presented the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2019 for service to the sport of diving

Thank you to those members who attended this years AGM. The minutes can be found attached below.