Only three years young, the Busselton Masters Swimming Club have earned themselves Club of Year in the Masters Swimming WA awards for 2017.
Their captain Darryl Kelly also earned himself the Perc Edwards Volunteer of the Year award having held the club’s helm since it first formed in 2015.
Busselton Masters Swimming Club secretary Trish Miller said it was hard to summarise Mr Kelly’s work because he was Mr Everything to the club.
“Without Darryl there would be no Busselon Masters Swim Club,” she said.
“Darryl has a magical touch to make everybody feel welcome, important and special. He is truly a special person that deserves to be recognised for his hard work.”
The swimming club first formed with eight members and now boasts a participation record of 58 people after three years of running.
Ms Miller said the club’s success could be attributed to Mr Kelly’s strong empathy and networking skills, actively encouraging swimmers of all ages and abilities to enage in the club’s social and sporting events.
She said Mr Kelly also played an instrumental role in bringing together the junior swimming club, Busselton Swimming Club and the masters club under the one umbrella.
“This initaitve encourages parents of junior swimmers to join and swim with the masters as financial members while their children train,” she said.
“This approach also creates a pathway for junior members to move onto become masters’ members as adults.
“Darryl’s devotion, time and effort invested in the Busselton Masters Swimming Club has made him the perfect ambassador for promoting masters swimming as a place to have fun, make friends and foster health and fitness.”
