23 Jul 2019

I would like to thank everyone who attended the TASC AGM held on Sunday 21st July. At this meeting the 2019/2020 committee was approved bringing in 5 new committee members (Damien Hall, Jacqueline Robson, Vikki Crammond,  Emma Watson and Joanne Giles) alongside the re-election of John North, Angela Lee, Eric Lee and Gill van der Merwe. I was honoured to be elected as the new Club Chair and am very grateful for all of the support given. I will do my very best to honour the responsibility bestowed upon me.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Treacey Kelly for her contribution to TASC over the past 15 years. Treacey has been a prominent figure at the club over a long period and for that we are truly grateful.

As the chair of a new committee I am determined that we continue the strong traditional and highly reputable position TASC holds within the North Tyneside sporting community. We have a broad community of over 300 registered swimmers ranging from the age of 4 years old in Tadpoles up to 65+ in our Masters squad. We teach, we inspire, and we perform, priding ourselves on our ability to nurture the love of a sport from a young age. In doing so we see our swimmers go on to perform at all levels; local galas, regional and national level meets, right up to the international stage.

As TASC chair it is my intention to encourage the nurturing of our community and the ability to inspire all generations through both swim performance and education. Together we can do this in a supportive manner that recognises the need to balance our enjoyment of a sport as swimmers, parents/guardians and partners with our often-hectic schedules of work, school and play.

Key Focuses:

• Support our coaching and teaching teams to provide an environment of continued development from tadpoles through to performance.
• Encourage further club and community interaction, developing our social calendar and celebrate our successes.
• Continue to develop the club infrastructure and encourage mass participation in the running of the club.
• Stay true to our core values in providing a safe, fun and friendly environment in which our swimmers can realise their potential as both athletes and people.

TASC has a long and successful history as a swimming club in the region and together I hope we can continue that legacy, having a lot of fun along the way. We are blessed with so much talent and enthusiasm within the TASC community and it is my objective to lead by example, helping promote an environment and structure in which we can maximise our potential through working (and playing) together.

Looking ahead I would like to wish all our swimmers competing at British and National summer championships good luck. It’s an incredible honour for those swimmers involved and reward for years of hard work and dedication to their craft.  

For the rest of you I wish you all a relaxing summer and look forward to even more success in the pool during the 2019/2020 season.

A little bit about me

For those that have not met us our family (Chrissie, Leonie, Nicola and I) have been part of the TASC community since 2012. I have myself swum as a TASC Master since 2016. I have previously been Meet Manager and I have been a committee member for several years.

We moved to Newcastle in 2003 after Chrissie and I spent 10 years working within the international science community in Germany, Switzerland and the US. I am a Senior Lecturer in Microbiology at Newcastle University running a vibrant research team trying to improve the clinical management of urinary tract infections in the ageing population.

Science has taught me the importance of life balance and the need to nurture not only our careers/education but also our physical and mental fitness. I have always had a love of sport: running cross country up to county level at school, playing basketball up to University, playing squash in a hobby league in Heidelberg (to help me learn German) and as a youth competing in wild-water slalom kayak competitions.

Some of my adult achievements include mountain biking over alpine passes in Switzerland, a 24-hour mountain bike race in the cascade mountains of Washington State USA, I have completed the full distance cyclone twice and now swim open water events in the lake district. Oh I also, when time permits, fly Kites.

 

 

 

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