Ben Jenkinson
12th May 2021
Mr GREG PIPER (Lake Macquarie)—I'd like to offer my congratulations to Benjamin Jenkinson from Rathmines on winning this year's Lake Mac Sports Leader Award. The award acknowledges his outstanding contribution to sporting life in Lake Macquarie. Ben is a coach at Macquarie Shores Swim Club and is also the Principal Director of First Splashes Swim School in Toronto. Over the past 10 years he has taught the life-saving skill of swimming to tens of thousands of young people. Ben first became interested in teaching this life-long skill after being involved in swimming clubs and competitive swimming from when he was a young boy. His decision to make a career out of the sport was inspired by watching how his own coaches changed the lives of young people in so many positive ways. Ben simply wanted to give back to the community and help others. About 1500 youngsters now learn how to swim and develop their skills at First Splashes Swim Centre each term, with generations of the same families returning to the facility for coaching. I congratulate Ben on his well-deserved accolade and his great sense of community spirit.
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