Swim England
The Swim England Board
1 March 2018The 12 members of the Board are made up of representatives from across the sport and physical activity sector, as well as those with backgrounds in legal, human resources and finance.
The Swim England Board meets around six times a year to ensure the charity is working to the highest standards for all those involved in swimming and aquatics.
Within the governance structure the Sport Operations Committee (SOC) reports directly into the Board and has a wide brief which includes overseeing the effective delivery of the pathway (all disciplines) from learn to swim through to the elite programs and ensuring a seamless transition for all participants. In addition to the SOC there are a number of other committees that support the Board within a specialist area. View the members of the committees here.
For more information about Swim England as a Company Limited by Guarantee with charitable status, please click here
Meet The Swim England Board Members
Here are the current members of the Swim England Board.
Richard Hookway (Chair)
Richard, a former board member of Centrica and chief executive of Centrica Business, officially began a four-year term in the role on Wednesday 1 September. He has a wealth of experience in business, finance and technology and has extensive first-hand knowledge of corporate governance. Richard has a BSc in Mathematics from Manchester University and an MSc in Management (Sloan Fellow) from Stanford University in the US. His love of aquatics stems from his three children who are all still involved in the sport through swimming, water polo and triathlon.
Caroline Green (Senior NED / Independent)
Caroline jointly leads Browne Jacobson’s nationally recognised retail and logistics sector group. She is a true sector expert and is well respected for her thorough understanding and knowledge of her clients’ businesses as well as the legal frameworks within which they operate. Caroline specialises in high value and complex commercial contract and commercial property matters.
Alison Breadon (Independent)
Alison is an Assurance specialist and has supported organisations in all parts of the public sector since joining PwC in 1996. She currently leads PwC’s Government and Public Services industry teams across three Midlands offices. Alison has extensive experience of managing large NHS, Education and local government assurance engagements and has led a wide range of advisory work to public sector entities particularly support on governance.
Aysha Kidwai (Board Champion Equality, Diversity & Inclusion / Independent)
Aysha has 25 years’ experience in brand management, largely across the Retail, Media and Consumer Products industries. She has held senior leadership roles in major International corporates, SMEs and has also run her own management consultancy (Indigo Lens LTD). Aysha supports a number of digital and tech SMEs, particularly female or BAME led enterprises, and has championed embedding experiential marketing campaigns to encourage greater grassroots participation across sports, physical activity, health and wellbeing for all ages.
Barry Saunders (Member Nominated)
Barry started his involvement with swimming through his daughters when they started swimming and diving at a young age, with one winning a gold medal at the European Youth Olympics, resulting in him developing a broad knowledge of aquatic sports from grassroots to international level. Barry has been involved in the delivery of many national and international events, including the Olympic and Paralympic Games during London 2012. Barry was a founding director of Swim England North East Limited.
Bernard Simkins (Member Nominated)
As an active official and qualified referee Bernard has officiated at all levels up to regional championships and continues to mentor new officials. He has been involved in his club including chairperson and organised licensed open meets, for twenty years. He is CEO and owner of a West Midlands-based engineering company specialising in the Mining, construction and transport sectors.
Brian Havill (CFO)
Brian moved to Swim England from the England and Wales Cricket Board where he spent 15 years as Finance Director and Company Secretary. Before then, he was the Commercial Director for Pentland Sports Group and Chief Operating Officer for Hi-Tec Sports International. In a voluntary capacity, Brian spent six years on the Council of the Lawn Tennis Association, including time as vice-chair of the LTA’s Performance Committee. He is now on the Ethics Committee of the International Tennis Federation. Brian is also the Senior Independent Non-Executive Director on the board of Kent County Cricket Club.
Andy Salmon (CEO)
Andy Salmon joined Swim England as chief executive in February 2024 from British Triathlon, where he had been at the helm for the previous six years. A father of two, Andy has held leadership roles at various sporting organisations throughout his career, including The Professional Golfers’ Association, the Ladies’ Golf Union, Scottish Golf and Triathlon Scotland. He became chief executive at British Triathlon in November 2017 and helped steer the organisation through the launch of a new strategy, the publication and media launch of the transgender policy, the delivery of the World Triathlon Series events, which attracted live BBC and global TV coverage, plus the GO TRI participation programme. Upon joining Swim England, Andy said he was ‘extremely proud and honoured to be given the chance to help tackle the challenges of accessibility and opportunity so that even more people can experience the joy of aquatic activity’. Andy has a love of sport and physical activity outside of work and enjoys taking part in triathlons, open water swimming, anything ‘in and on the water’, rugby and golf.
Joan Wheeler (Member Nominated)
Joan was a competitive swimmer as a child and renewed her involvement in swimming when her children joined the local club. Having held the position of Club Chair for nine years, Joan progressed to the County Executive, being President twice, and became Regional Chair in 2013. Joan is also a qualified swimming judge and referee and continues to volunteer at a range of club, county and regional competitions. Joan is a qualified project manager and worked as a middle manager in a range of governance and policy development roles. She is also chair of the Sport Operations Committee.
Katie Walcott-Greenwood (Independent)
Katie was a former competitive swimmer during her childhood. Swimming has an impact on all aspects of her life, citing the discipline, commitment and determination that competitive swimming instils as shaping her as an adult, mum and a professional. Katie has held a number of different leadership roles during a 10-year career with HSBC after initially qualifying as a chartered accountant with PwC.
Neil Booth (Welfare, Safeguarding & Safety Board Director / Member Nominated)
Neil has been involved as a member of his club for over 25 years and has successfully carried out the various officer roles within his Club. He was a founder member of the management board of the North West Region and, following retirement in 2007 from a long career in the police service, he has evolved into a ‘full time’ volunteer within the sport. Neil is a British Swimming Referee and is currently involved in developing material and delivering training for swimming technical officials.
Carrie Ryan (Independent)
Carrie Ryan has been appointed to the Board as a trustee, independent non-executive director and chair of Swim England Trading Limited. A keen swimmer, Carrie is vice-president and global head of strategy and business development at Dutch-based investment group Prosus and has previously held senior management roles at Nike and eBay. She is also a qualified swimming teacher and spent five years swimming, including volunteering to work with under-privileged children and youngsters with disabilities.
Statement issued 16 September 2021
A complaint was made by a member, Ms Sue Arrowsmith, under the judicial complaints system, against Mr Chris Bostock, in relation to Mr Bostock’s conduct at the Swim England Masters Conference on 30 September 2017.
At the relevant time Mr Bostock was the Chairman of the organisation’s Sport Governing Board.
The judicial system functions entirely separately from the executive function and independence was key throughout the process, which included the appointment of an external Chair (QC) through Sports Resolutions UK to the Appeal Committee. The judicial process was followed to a conclusion as set out in the published determination.
In that determination the Appeal Committee found that Mr Bostock had behaved in an “aggressive and dismissive” manner towards Ms Arrowsmith and in a way that infringed Swim England’s Code of Ethics. The Committee placed a warning on Mr Bostock’s record. During the Appeal process the Committee also stated that it remained concerned by his continued views towards Ms Arrowsmith and hoped that he would reflect on its decision and apologise to her. Mr Bostock has not apologised.
At the time of the relevant Masters Conference and of Ms Arrowsmith’s complaint the organisation had a two-board governance structure and Mr Bostock was the Chair of the Sport Governing Board. In 2018 the Swim England Group Board and Swim England Sport Governing Board were dissolved following the incorporation of the organisation. One single board was created and Mr Mike Farrar was appointed as the Chair. Mr Bostock did not take up a voluntary role within the new organisational governance structure.
The current Board reiterates as a matter of record for all its members the importance of members upholding appropriate standards of conduct.
The Board does not dispute the findings of the Appeal Committee that Mr Bostock failed to respect Ms Arrowsmith’s dignity and that this constituted misconduct in violation of Swim England’s Code of Ethics.
The Board, having reflected on recently received accounts of what happened at the relevant Masters Conference, understand that Mr Bostock introduced himself as Chair of the Sport Governing Board and, to all intents and purposes, acted in that capacity.
The Board apologises for the upset Mr Bostock’s behaviour caused to Ms Arrowsmith. We would, in addition, like to thank Ms Arrowsmith for pursuing this matter in order to uphold the standards that we expect from our members. We hope this does not deter Ms Arrowsmith from pursuing any swimming activity in the future.