Life Member Neil Swane Honoured

From Life Member Neil Swane The main purpose of my most recent trip was to officiate at the World Life Saving Championships in The Netherlands with officials from all over the world. With two days remaining of the underlying championships, all officials were encouraged to go to the presentation platform for a quick expression of thanks from Graham Ford the president of the International Life Saving Federation. As well as the vote of thanks, Graham highlighted that he had two 'citations of merits' to present. The following is a brief description in respect to what this citation is about. CITATION OF MERIT Selection Process Granted by International Life Saving (ILS) upon request of the National Federations. The Citations are ratified by the Board of Directors. Any person whose efforts and contributions has achieved a positive impact on the furtherance of lifesaving and the goals of the International Life Saving. These efforts can be achieved through the individual effort in the development or implementation of lifesaving initiatives within the member organisation or the International Life Saving. There was over 260 officials at this championships and in an endeavour of cutting a long story short, I was one of two officials to receive this significant awards to these championships. Thankfully I was wearing my Ray-Bans at the time of the presentation as I teared up like never before. These tears amplified my view that anything is possible with a can-do attitude. When I received accreditation as a level one official, almost twenty years ago, I could have never imagined becoming so involved in life saving on the international stage. Neil "Rebellion against your handicaps gets you nowhere. Self-pity gets you nowhere. One must have the adventurous daring to accept oneself as a bundle of possibilities and undertake the most interesting game in the world ~ making the most of one's best" Harry Emerson Fosdick