The Swim England Hall of Fame was set up as part of the national governing body’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 2019. A total of 26 people were named in the inaugural induction and this is the first time since then that a new cohort will be included. A panel of representatives from all disciplines will review the submissions and determine those to be inducted during the Swim England National Awards, at the Great Hall, University of Birmingham, on Saturday 26 November.
They will be looking at how nominees have gone above and beyond in their contribution to swimming, para-swimming, artistic swimming, diving, open water and water polo. Sharron Davies was inducted after becoming a household name in swimming throughout her career which took off at the 1976 Montreal Olympics when she represented Great Britain at the age of 13.
Sharron who is 60 in November, went on to win a silver medal in the 400m Individual Medley at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow and became a two-time Commonwealth champion with her gold medals at the Edmonton Games in 1978. As one of the inaugural inductees to the Hall of Fame she said receiving the honour was a special moment as she was recognised as by her peers. “It was a real honour.
Swimming has been my life for as long as I can remember and when I haven’t been competing at the Olympic games, I’ve been working for the BBC. “I’ve now been at the side of the pool for 12 consecutive Olympics, so I’ve never left swimming since I was first a junior international as an 11-year-old. It’s just a huge part of who I am.”
With nominations available for volunteers, officials, administrators, Davies believes the Hall of Fame is the perfect chance to reward the people that go unrecognised. “It’s really important because it isn’t just for athletes, it’s also for people that give their lives to swimming. The coaches, officials and all the people that make the sport because it is more than just the swimmers. “These people are the backbone of what we do and there’s so many that we don’t hear about that give up their time for free.
