Swimming Australia Hires Kevin Neil as New Chief Executive Officer

CANBERRA, Australia, August 1. SWIMMING Australia Limited (SAL) has announced the appointment of former Canberra Raiders NRL boss Kevin Neil as its new Chief Executive Officer.

Neil, who was appointed to the SAL board of directors in February, takes over from Glenn Tasker, who resigned his position as CEO last month after six years in the job.

The 52-year-old Neil was one of three applicants short listed for the position and he will take up his new role in mid to late September.

Neil had a successful 10-year reign in charge of the Raiders between 1991- 2002 and is regarded as one of Australia's most respected sports and business related administrators.

Neil will leave his position as the ACT Manager of Australian Air Express to steer Australia's leading Olympic sport towards the 2012 London Olympics.

Swimming Australia president David Urquhart today welcomed Neil into the new role at the helm of a sport which has been at the forefront of Australian sport for the past century.

"Swimming is privileged to have such an accomplished sports administrator in Kevin Neil, take over from Glenn and the Board is delighted to have Kevin in the position as CEO," said Urquhart. "He is not only very well respected in the sporting and corporate world but he brings to the position a wealth of experience in not only managing a major sport but also the marketing and business nous required to take the sport forward in the future.

"We have a wonderful product from the grass roots of our community to the very elite of our sport who will represent Australia in the coming days at the Beijing Olympic Games.

"I know every member of the board is excited to have a person of Kevin's caliber at the helm as we enter what I believe to be one of the most exciting eras in our sport.

"We have some great initiatives at all levels which we believe will only enhance our community involvement.

"I personally am looking forward to working with Kevin as is everyone who has come across his path in his already short time in the sport.

"He has taken a real interest in every aspect of swimming and I believe his instant interest as a board member created an impression that he was genuinely keen to do whatever he could to further the sport – and that's a great trait."

Neil himself said he was excited with the appointment in what has been somewhat of a whirlwind introduction to swimming.

"It was only six months ago that I came on to the board and here I am as the CEO – it's funny how things turn out but from the outset I was comfortable around the people I met and excited with the product," said Neil. "When Glenn resigned to take up his position at NSW Tennis I thought long and hard about taking the plunge into a sport I must admit I knew little about until this year. But I have certainly liked what I have seen and I am excited about assisting in taking the sport into an exciting new era."

Special thanks to Swimming Australia for contributing this report.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x