By Gary Anderson

January 22 - Swimming Australia has announced the final two appointments to its Board ©Swimming AustraliaSwimming Australia has announced the appointments of Simon Rothery and Bevan Slattery to its Board, with both men set to take up their roles at the end of this month.

Rothery and Slattery come from the world of finance and business and join Clem Doherty, Dr Chloe Flutter, Nicole Livingstone, Graeme Johnson, Tom Picton-Warlow, Jeremy Turner and President John Bertrand in making up the Swimming Australia Board for 2014.

Rothery is currently partner managing director, chief executive of Goldman Sachs Australia and New Zealand and is also Head of Securities, Australia and New Zealand Securities Division.

He is also involved with the Knox Pymble Swimming Club in Sydney.

Slattery is President of St Peters Western Amateur Swimming Club in Queensland and is the founder, director and chief executive officer of IT compan, Megaport.

"This is a positive step for swimming and an excellent start to the year with an announcement of this calibre," said Bertrand, appointed President of Swimming Australia in August last year, and is a former sailor who won bronze at Montreal 1976 and skippered the Australia II yacht to victory in the 1983 America's Cup.

"The business acumen, skills and corporate knowledge that both Simon and Bevan will add to the Swimming Australia Board will be a further asset for the sport at both the national and state level.

"They are passionate about this country, and passionate about swimming, and to have business professionals of such standing and success, commit to our sport, is excellent for Swimming Australia."

These latest appointments complete a period of transition for Swimming Australia following a turbulent 18 months since Australian swimmers put in the country's worst performance at an Olympic Games since Barcelona 1992, when they returned home with only one gold medal from London 2012.

Reviews into the performance at London 2012 found that abuse of alcohol and prescription drugs, as well as flouting of curfews and bullying, went unpunished within the Australian swimming team, and blamed a "culturally toxic" environment on their ultimate failure.

That led to the resignation of head coach Leigh Nugent in March 2013, although it was widely anticipated that he would be sacked by Swimming Australia following the team's troubles in London.

Dutchman Jacco Verhaeren was appointed as the country's new head coach last October and will work under former head of British swimming Michael Scott who was appointed in April.

Barclay Nettlefold was among a number of changes in leadership at Swimming Australia over the past year ©Getty Images Barclay Nettlefold was among a number of changes in leadership at Swimming Australia over the past year ©Getty Images
























In between times, Barclay Nettlefold was forced to resign as Swimming Australia President after allegedly making lewd comments to female colleagues which led to Energy Australia pulling out of a major five-year sponsorship contract with Swimming Australia after only 12 months.

Rothery and Slattery will officially start their new roles on January 31, which coincides with the Australian team taking on Brazil, China, Japan and South Africa in Perth as part of the BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series.

Swimming Australia chief executive officer Mark Anderson, who took over from Kevin Neil in April, was bullish about the year ahead for the organisation both in and out of the water.

"We start the year in Perth at the BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series before our trials in Brisbane in April," said Anderson.

"The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July is a huge focus for us and the nation, and then we're looking forward to welcoming the USA, Japan, and Canada and opening a new venue on the Gold Coast at the Hancock Prospecting Pan Pacific Championships in August.

"As well as an emphasis on developing a world's best programme in high performance, our new strategic plan will also see the organisation look to access and build a relationship with the broader swimming audience."

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