Anne Bell elected as Swim Ontario first female Board of Director's President

At the Swim Ontario AGM on September 14, Swim Ontario welcomed new Board of Directors Jamie Peetsma, Robert Giggey, and welcomed back Tym Barker as voted upon by the membership. These individuals bring a wealth of experience and knowledge from their professional and sport backgrounds and the organization is looking forward to the experience they will bring to the table, joining existing members Anne Bell, Carlos Sayao, Chris Salvador and David Shemilt.

“We just finished a full spectrum of pertinent information, innovation, motivation and collaboration of the Ontario Swimming Community during the 2019 Conference, AGM and Hall of Fame weekend. As we are experiencing momentum of success for Canadian Swimming, Ontario is very much part of the formula and very much excited towards Tokyo 2020”

Following the AGM the new board met and elected Anne Bell as its President for the 2019-2020 season, making her the first female Board of Directors President in Swim Ontario’s history.

“Swim Ontario continues to strive and advocate for a safe and inclusive environment for its members to evolve further to reach their potential. The appointment of Anne Bell as the first female Swim Ontario president is a great moment for the organization. Anne is a values based leader and team player with a suitcase of experience and skills demonstrated for decades in the sport of swimming, nationally and provincially," said Swim Ontario CEO Dean Boles.

Swim Ontario would like to extend thanks and gratitude to outgoing Board members Dan Thompson, Paul Legault and John Gerrard on their hard work and contributions to Swim Ontario during their past terms on the board.

Outgoing President Dan Thompson said, “It has been an honour to serve as the Swim Ontario President and I’m thrilled to see the succession of new leadership. Swim Ontario has a great new board with solid policy governance experience and a common clarity of vision.  Anne Bell serving as Swim Ontario’s first female president brings exceptional skills including strong policy governance expertise and a solid understanding of the Club environment, and Carlos Sayao as Vice President has strong legal and risk management skills and brings a strong performance understanding from his years on Canada’s national swim team. I’m confident that this new Board will carry on our strong heritage of leadership.”

Swim Ontario is looking forward to the guidance and direction of the new Board for the 2019-2020 season and beyond.