Bob Holman

Bob is the Chairman of our local swimming club in Bere Regis. He started the Club 35 years ago when he and some friends needed to teach their own children to swim and arranged to meet in the village school's open air pool during the summer. Since then he has run a club that at any one time has 70 - 80 children aged 3 -16 learning to swim. He has organised over 50 parents and volunteers to take teaching qualifications, set up a proper Club governance structure that was the first in Dorset to achieve Swim 21 status, and given the older children the chance to take their first steps into helping and teaching with the younger ones. The club atmosphere is informal, friendly and inclusive, very much taking its lead from Bob. Bob organises club galas, our annual triathlon, diving sessions, and prize nights, anything that makes swimming more enjoyable. The emphasis of the club is on learning to swim, rather than becoming the next Olympic champion. Bob has also swum the Channel and is an enthusiastic champion of open water swimming. He has chaired the Dorset ASA, and created the Dorset novice under 16's Water Polo league. Outside of swimming he gets involved in a number of local community groups. But Bob's personal legacy is teaching upwards of 1,000 kids from the villages around Bere Regis to swim properly. It's amazing today to see how many parents learned to swim with the club and are now bringing their own children to have the same experience. I was Dorset County ASA President in 2005. Whilst Dorset County ASA Water Polo secretary I helped to found the Dorset mini polo leagues (Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3 and under 18) and now around 400 participate in the sport in Dorset.