Simon Rothwell ‘humbled’ to join his mentors as Alfred H Turner Award winners

A ‘humbled’ Simon Rothwell was honoured to join some of his mentors after being named the Alfred H Turner Award winner for 2024.

Simon, who became Swim England’s second youngest president in 2013, admitted that this award was particularly special to him with Alfred H Turner being from his home region in the North West.

He said: “I feel very honoured, very humbled – especially as I actually knew Alfred Turner.

“When I first started my career in swimming, he was the honorary treasurer of the ASA and he was on the Northern Counties Executive when I first joined.

“So, it’s special for me to win this award as he’s from the North West just like myself and there’s so many people on that winners list who I’ve looked up to and have mentored me.

“There’s so many incredible recipients, particularly people like Mike Glover – who was a great servant in the North West – and I know both Jane and John Davies, with John winning it last year. It’s nice to follow them and join that list of eminent winners.”

Starting as a swimmer at Lytham St Annes, Simon competed at a regional level before going on to become a teacher and a technical official.

Whilst studying at Liverpool University, he joined Garston Swimming Club where he’s still president to this day.

He went on to become Swim England’s representative on the British Swimming board for 16 years (2000-2016) and was on committee’s for both European (LEN) and World Aquatics (FINA) for more than a decade.

Simon also served time as a journalist, writing a weekly column on aquatics for the Liverpool Echo and was the ‘News from the North’ correspondent to the Swimming Times for a number of years.

He continued to officiate throughout his career and was duly appointed deputy competition manager for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, as well as being the technical official manager for Swim England’s national events.

Grasp every single opportunity

Speaking on his greatest achievements from his glittering career, Simon said it was knowing he was able to help make a difference on a national level that meant the most to him.

He added: “I was very honoured to become president in 2013, following in such a long list of distinguished individuals, including many of my mentors like Austin Rawlinson and Tom Cooper. I was also delighted to become the first recipient of a lifetime achievement award at the Swim England North West Awards in September.

“I was on the ASA board and the British Swimming board and I think my greatest achievement on the administration side was being able to help bridge the gap between amateur and the professionalisation of governance across the sport.

“And being a part of that when our sport became professionalised was really special for me and I always think of that as a big achievement.”

After more than 40 years of experience in the sport, Simon shared his top tips for anyone looking to get involved in officiating at the highest level.

He added: “You’ve got to grasp every single opportunity given to you. Don’t be shy, if someone asks you, take it as an honour.

“If you want to go further, you do need people to help you on your journey and to mentor you. You can’t do it all on your own – especially if you want to get to European and world level.

“I was very fortunate that I had good people who encouraged me and were my kind of mentors.

“They helped me on my path and journey to what I’ve achieved, and I’d like to think I’ve been able to give back and do the same.

“I think that’s why I’ve always loved the sport. Even though in lots of ways in swimming you’re an individual and competing as an individual, I still think of it as a team sport.

“It’s that team camaraderie that you have within your own team and your own club, county, region or nationally and you were always fortunate enough to be a part of that team.

“So, I’m just honoured to win this award. Thank you to our region for nominating me and our chair Jim Wilkes.

“Thank you to David Sparkes for encouraging me when I first joined the ASA committee in 2000 and also to both Alan Clarkson and Sam Greetham for being such an inspiration for me within LEN and at European level.”