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The Board of Swimming Australia has announced the appointment of America's Cup sailing legend John Bertrand AM as the new President of Swimming Australia Ltd.

Bertrand replaces Barclay Nettlefold, who resigned as Swimming Australia President in June amid claims of inappropriate behaviour and represents, according to a Swimming Australia statement "another positive step for the leadership structure of Swimming Australia."

Bertrand is a dual Olympian, world champion sailor, respected international business leader and renowned philanthropist. He represented Australia in five America's Cups and at two Olympic Games (1972, 1976), including winning an Olympic bronze medal in Montreal in 1976.

His America's Cup career was exceptional. He skippered Australia II, the yacht which won the America's Cup for Australia in 1983, breaking 132 years of American domination in the sport and, in over 25 years of America's Cup campaigning (1970-1995), he was involved in all areas of creating and leading these high performance teams including skipper of the Australia II team and chairman of oneAustralia.

John Bertrand is the current Chairman of The Sport Australia Hall of Fame and also Chairman of the Alannah and Madeline Childrens Foundation a charity that was established after the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996 and is now a world leader in child protection causes and anti-bullying programs.

He is also Chairman of selectors of the highly successful Australian Olympic Sailing Team and was conferred a Member of the Order of Australia in 1985.

In accepting the appointment Bertrand explained "I've had an association with high performance sport and high performance teams for more than 40 years and this appointment is one of the highlights of my career.

"My immediate focus will be to provide the corporate leadership and direction to ensure continued improvement in sporting results, corporate governance, team culture and grass roots growth at the community sport level."

Swimming Australia acting Chair Clem Doherty said that Bertrand's proven track record for excellence, achievement and experience across sport and business would be an asset to Swimming Australia moving forward, adding "John has been an inspiration to generations of Australians and is a perfect role model for our next generation of elite athletes.

"He brings a unique mix of corporate expertise, government relations, sporting prowess and leadership of high performance teams and will be a valuable asset to the sport."

The appointment followed a special general meeting of Swimming Australia at which it adopted constitutional changes associated with the appointment and election of the president and the term of elected and appointed directors.

In March, the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) introduced a set of mandatory governance principles for its largest funded sports.

Since then the ASC has been actively working with all sports, including swimming, to progress reform.

Speaking about this process, and the appointment of Bertrand, ASC Chief Executive Simon Hollingsworth added "these changes, which include having the president elected by the board, bring this aspect of Swimming Australia's governance into line with others sports that are adopting best practice governance principles.

"The ASC congratulates Swimming Australia and its members for adopting these important reforms and look forward to it making further progress."

The commission will work with John Bertrand and the executive team at Swimming Australia to ensure Australian swimming maintains its position at the top on the world stage and continues to be a key participation option for our young athletes.

Swimming Australia will receive more than $8.7 million in funding from the ASC in 2013/14.

6th June 2013 - ENERGY AUSTRALIA ENDS SWIMMING AUSTRALIA SPONSORSHIP

3rd June 2013 - SWIMMING AUSTRALIA PRESIDENT RESIGNS

24th April 2013 - ATHLETICS AND SWIMMING SUFFER REDUCTIONS IN ASC FUNDING

20th February 2013 - SECOND REPORT SLAMS MANAGEMENT OF AUSTRALIAN SWIMMING

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