July Volunteer of the Month

Coral has been involved in Newton Abbot Swimming Club for over 40 years, one of the longest serving members at Newton. In that time it has progressed from a small club with around 50 members to a club trains swimmers at national level, with over 300 number of members. The club now runs successful swimming and water polo teams.

When Coral joined the club, she did so because her children swam and trained with the club. The committee was organised (if not dominated) by 3 officers: once of which was Coral who held, and still holds the post of Treasurer. As part of her duties as Treasurer, Coral used to collecting membership subs and gave out information at the door of the pool where we trained.  By all accounts she could be quite fearsome in those days but all in the "best" interests of the club! At that time, the Club was very low ranked in competitions and Coral helped to improve the Club's status over time. 

Coral is also the Treasurer for Devon County ASA and for some time they hosted their AGMs at Newton Abbot - again facilitated by Coral.  Coral's role as Treasurer for Devon involves a lot of her time, on top of what she does for Newton Abbot, and I know she is invaluable to them in terms of support, knowledge and dedication.

It is hard to think of anybody in the county who has done more to further the development, organisation and success of swimming in Devon over the last 40 years. Dedication and commitment come quickly to mind, followed by loyalty and a love and appreciation of the sport. Coral is so well connected she can and has used her skills and influence to further the development and success of aquatics at Newton Abbot within Devon and beyond. She is often the "go to" person for problems and advice. She has adapted to change over the years but the fire still burns for swimming and NASC. Her knowledge of the sport, its ongoing development and issues (child protection, Swim 21 etc) make her special, maybe unique, and a lot of people will say "well deserved" and "not before time" should she get an award.

Whenever there has been local, county or schools competitions Coral has always been helping with the results etc. She has represented the club at county meetings and her whole life has been with Newton Abbot Swimming Club.