There are three New Zealand Swimming officials heading to London, Ross Bragg, John West and Jo Davidson.
Ross Bragg will be officiating at the London 2012 Paralympics. It will be Bragg's fourth Paralympics as a swimming Technical Official. Sydney 2000 was his first followed by Athens in 2004.
In Athens, the indoor pool was used by Water Polo and Synchronised Swimming whereas the Olympics swimming was in the outdoor pool area which was extremely hot. The swimming in 2008 in Beijing, was held in the complex known as The Bubble.
Braggs officiating roles have been as a Starter, Judge of Stroke, Turn Judge, Referee and Chief Referee. He has also attended World championships for FINA in Fukuoka Japan (2001) and IPC Swimming (1998), Christchurch (2002), Mar del Plata, Argentina (2006) as well as Durban, South Africa and Eindhoven, The Netherlands (2010).
Bragg is a member of the International Paralympics Committee (IPC) Sport Technical Committee, where his position is Head of Officiating. With Swimming New Zealand he is a member of the Swimming Technical Committee (STC) responsible for the Auckland and Northland swimming regions.
Bragg says: My experiences over these years have been very rewarding. To be amongst the Elite swimmers for FINA, IPC and Special Olympics has left me with many happy memories. I am very thankful for these opportunities that the sport of swimming has given me, he further commented.
John West has been confirmed to officiate the Marathon Swimming event at the London Olympic Games to be held in the Serpentine at Hyde Park on August 13 & 14, the first New Zealander to do so following the inclusion of the event in Beijing in 2008.
John was a Referee at last years World Championships in Shanghai and has also been selected to Referee the Olympic selection event to be held in June in Setubal, Portugal. He has officiated international Open Water competitions since the inaugural World Championships in Hawaii, USA in 2000 and is currently a member of FINAs Technical Open Water Swimming Committee.
Jo Davidson has been officiating swimming for over 25 years and is currently the Chair of the Swimming New Zealand Technical Advisory Committee. During this time she has had the opportunity to officiate at National Meets on an annual basis as a timekeeper, inspector of turns, recorder and referee.
She said: I am pleased to have been appointed to the London Olympics as a Technical Official. This will be my second Olympics as I officiated in Athens in 2004. I have also officiated at three FINA World Championships since 2003 and several Oceania Championships. I look forward to representing Swimming New Zealand and New Zealand in London.
Tweet Share