Ken Ford
awarded 1991
Ken Ford the former State Secretary, was awarded Life Membership of AUSSI NSW, the first person to be awarded this honour.
Brian Hird
awarded 1992
In recognition of Brian’s dedication to the cause of AUSSI, the Executive Committee saw fit to elect Brian Hird to the honourable status of Life Membership of the Association. Brian served as President virtually since the incorporation of the Association. The task of welding a group of 30 odd Clubs into a Corporate Body of some 1200 individual members was a rather daunting task. However, Brian applied himself 100% to the job and with true executive ability by organisation, delegation and supervision brought the Association to a stage where it operates most efficiently in all departments.
Peg Wilson
awarded 1995
Peg Wilson joined AUSSI in 1975 not long after AUSSI was formed. She was a founding member of the first club, Tamworth, and was president of that club for 12 years. At a State Level, Peg was president of NSW AUSSI for two years in the late seventies, and together with Steven Byles, Peg spent two years setting up the National Top Ten. She also held positions as Promotions Officer, Technical Committee member, Committee member, and was National Historian from 1989.
George McGilvray
awarded 1995
George joined Warringah Masters in its infancy (1983) and was instrumental in many of its achievements. George was elected to the Committee of Masters Swimming NSW as President in November 1986 and in July 1987 relinquished that position to become Treasurer, which he held until 1996. He was awarded both the Gary Stutsel Award and the Club Administration Award during his term of office. George was a fitness fanatic and swam his way through a long and contented life picking up the odd gold, silver and bronze medal against local, interstate and international competition.
Sue Johnstone
awarded 1996
Sue Johnstone was Branch President for 3 years, inaugural Branch Records Recorder, Technical Committee Member, Official Accreditations Course Presenter, Marshal at Swim Meets including Pan Pacs, Nationals and State Delegate to National Meetings. A member of the National Technical Committee, a member of the 1994 Steering Committee for National Accreditation. She also is accredited as a Referee.
Beryl Stenhouse
awarded 1998
Beryl joined AUSSI Masters Swimming at its inception in 1975, when AUSSI stood for Australian Union of Senior Swimmers International. Not confining her activities to the pool, Beryl has played a major role at every level of AUSSI Masters, helping it become the organization it is today. From the late 1980s Beryl did valuable work with Masters Swimming NSW, in the dual capacity of NSW Administrator (1989–1998) and NSW Secretary (1990–1998)
Gary Stutsel
awarded 2000
Gary has been at the heart of Masters swimming in Australia since the start. He drafted the constitutions for both Masters Swimming Australia and the NSW branch in 1975 and led the development of the sport for many. It was Gary who conceived the organisational structure of masters swimming in Australia, with a national governing body and state branches to coordinate the activities of local swimmers. There is not enough room here to list the positions he has held at branch, national and international level.
Helen Rubin
awarded 2005
Helen joined Ryde AUSSI Masters in 1982 and energetically served on the NSW Branch Committee from 1993 to 2004, in whatever capacity has been needed. She volunteered as NSW Aerobic Recorder in 1992 and worked to streamline the manual system. She soon realised that the scheme lent itself to computer recording and wrote the specifications for such a recording system. The system was adopted nationally in 1999, saving aerobic recorders countless hours of work. Helen was the NSW webmaster and developed the original site. Helen is a regular participant in carnivals where she not only swims, but also officiates, having gained accreditation as
Jane Noake
awarded 2010
Shortly after starting to swim with Masters, Jane sought qualification as an official. In 1999 she qualified as a Timekeeper and Chief Timekeeper. In 2000 she added Starter, Check Starter and Marshal, and she became a Referee in 2001. In 2008 Jane served as a referee at the World Masters Swim in Perth. For many years Jane has organised and run courses for officials. In 1999 Jane joined the NSW Masters Management Committee, taking up the role of Vice President in 2000 and in 2001 was elected President of the association.
In 2005 Jane stepped down to become Vice President. She held this position till 2008 when she took over again as President. Whilst carrying out all of these ‘senior’ management roles, Jane was the Head of the Marketing and Club Development Committee from 2001, and the Events Committee from 2004 until 2009. Jane’s focus in that year became the World Masters Games but she still acted as Meet Director at all the major Branch Championships
Mark Hepple
awarded 2017
Mark joined Hills AUSSI Masters in 1996, and in 1999 was appointed Branch Computer Recorder for swim meets and Top Ten rankings.
Since that time, Mark has attended most swim meets, producing the program, inputting times and producing the results. This includes all Branch Championship meets, plus national and international meets including: 2002 National Swim, 2009 World Masters Games, 2013 National Championships – each of these involved numerous challenges, and many of the innovations have been carried forward in subsequent Nationals.
Much of Mark’s work is done behind the scenes, he is constantly challenging what we do and how we can do it better – working on the meet recording systems to tailor them to our needs; taking on the responsibility of creating a new website in 2013 and keeping it up to date and progressively making changes; working with the administrator in the constant upgrading and improvement of our systems, including digitisation of the forms that we use, and the creation and maintenance of registers of officials, coaches and MD’s; initiating the move to on line entries, taming the system we use to make it more user-friendly.
Mark has put his heart and soul into Masters swimming, and we have benefited as a Branch from having Mark as part of our team.
Di Coxon-Ellis
awarded 2024
Di has been a dedicated force in Masters swimming since 1986, representing at State, National, and World Championship levels. A Life Member of Hills Masters for over 20 years, Di has served in nearly every key leadership role at the club — from President to Head Coach to Meet Director — embodying passion and commitment at every turn.
Certified as a coach in 1991, Di has made a lasting impact beyond the club, serving as NSW Branch Coaching Director (1994–1998, 2012–2020) and NSW Branch Administrator (1998–2011). Her technical expertise also saw her rise through the officiating ranks, becoming a referee in 2006 and contributing significantly to numerous National meets.
In 2014, Di joined the National Coaching Committee and was elected Chair in 2019, continuing her legacy of leadership, mentorship, and excellence in Masters swimming across Australia.
Stuart Meares
awarded 2025
Stuart joined Warringah Masters in 1986 and has maintained continuous membership for 39 years. Notably, Stuart served as MSNSW Treasurer from 2001 to 2018, a pivotal 18-year period during which the organisation moved from financial deficit to stability. His fiscal responsibility and long-term commitment are seen as instrumental to MSNSW’s growth.
Beyond his Treasurer role, Stuart contributed to the Marketing and Development Committee and is a qualified chief timekeeper and check starter.
Stuart’s service has been formally acknowledged with the 2011 Gary Stutsel Award and the 2018 Sport NSW Distinguished Long Service Award.
A respected competitive swimmer at state, national, and international levels, Stuart has also coached & has served as club auditor since 1995.
