Meet the NZMS Vice-President - Warren Gilbertson

Family comprising wife Sarah, Finn (14yrs), Angus (12yrs) and George (10yrs) moved to the Greymouth from Wellington in 2005 not knowing anyone on the West Coast. We had moved for me to take up a role with Development West Coast (DWC) where I am the Chief Operating Officer. Having been fortunate to be able to access a number of pools in Wellington, our first experience of swimming on the Coast was in the aged, cold and leaky Memorial Baths built in the 1930’s. Following significant investment into community infrastructure, the Coast has the luxury of a new aquatic centre in Greymouth and another new pool facility as part of the Solid Energy Centre in Westport.

Moving to the Coast has been a great move in terms of the lifestyle and the boys being able to be involved in so much activity. Although Finn now attends Christchurch Boys High as a boarder, a typical Saturday will begin with rugby in the morning, rugby league in the afternoon with a bit of time in between for Angus to get a surf in as the league is played adjacent to the beach.

All of the family enjoy watersports including swimming with Angus and George still actively competing and me helping out with some coaching at the local Greymouth Swimming Club. It is amazing to see over a period of three years what a new pool facility can do in terms of attracting good coaches and getting an increasing number of swimmers qualifying for national age group and div II championship meets. The current challenge is to increase the number of active master and adult swimmers that can train together and attend Masters competitions.

I look forward to working with John and the executive to ensure Masters swimming continues to be relevant and exceed the expectations of its members.