Sue Guesdon Receives Awards For Lifetime Of Service
Courtesy of Ned Denison, International Swimming Hall of Fame, Fort Lauderdale.
Sue Guesdon was awarded with two of the highest honors in the sport: she was inducted as an Honor Administrator by the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in its Class of 2019 and she received the 2019 Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award by the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Her double honor was a long time in coming.
The Australian has served as a race director, event organizer, coach, handler, judge, official, lecturer, health & fitness advisor, and licensed boat captain from her home base in Tasmania to Italy, France, Fiji, Indonesia, Hong Kong, USA, Canada, UK, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands and throughout Australia for over 50 years.
The honor and award will be presented to Guesdon, wife of former International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame chairman Christopher Guesdon, on March 9th 2019 during the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies held in Melbourne, Australia. The Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award is presented annually to the organization or individual who has contributed the most to the administration of open water swimming.
Guesdon was known as a versatile contributor toward the positioning and development of marathon swimming at all levels throughout the world.
Her myriad roles have been numerous:
* Secretary of Australian Long Distance Swimming Federation from 1975 to 1979
* editor and writer of the Australian open water swimming newsletter from 1975 to 2000
* official of the 40 km Port Philip Bay Big Swim in 1968
* coach handler for English Channel swimmers in 1970, 1975 and 1977
* official and organiser of the Port Moresby Daugo Island Ela Beach Race Papua New Guinea in 1971
* coach handler for the 34 km Relay Derwent River Marathon in 1974
* escort/ handler of the Hong Kong Repulse Bay Marathon in October 1977
* escort/ handler at the 1977 English Channel Arab Nations Race
* coach/handler of the 34 km Derwent River Marathon in 1975 and 1976
* coach/handler of the Australian national team member who won the silver medal at the International Long Distance Swimming Association Maratona del Golfo Capri Napoli World Championship in 1975
* coach handler of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Lac Chibougamau race in Quebec, Canada in 1977
* coach/handler of the International Marathon Swimming Federation La Tuque Canada Marathon race during the 1970s
* organizer/director of the ALDSF Kingston to Hobart 1984 Australian Marathon Swimming Championships
* race official of the First Australian Masters Games open water swimming race in 1987
* coach /handler at the 1991 Australian Open Water Swimming Championships
* Australian open water swimming team health & fitness advisor volunteer at the 1994 FINA World Championships in Italy
* Australian open water swimming team volunteer health fitness & logistics management at the 1996 FINA World Cup in Evian, Switzerland
* official and boat judge at the 1999 FINA Pan Pacific Swimming Championships 25 km race in Victoria
* official in the 2003 South Pacific Games Open Water Swimming Championships held in Fiji
* official and Clerk of Course & Judge at the 2001 Fiji Open Water Swimming Championships
* participated in the FINA Technical Officials Course held in Suva, Fiji in 2001 and 2003
* official Clerk of Course in the 2007 Arafura Games Open Water Swimming Championships
* participated in the FINA Open Water Swimming Certificate – Technical Officials Clinic held in the Cook Islands in 2007
* participated in the FINA Olympic Solidarity Officials Course Certificate held in Suva, Fiji in 2006
* official and Clerk of Course at the 2008 Asian Beach Games Open Water Swimming event held in Bali, Indonesia
* lecturer and trainer in the Open Water Swimming Development Clinic held in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2008
* Clerk of Course and Official in the 2011 South East Asian Games Open Water Swimming event Putri Island Indonesia
* official/organizer/Safety Director in the Derwent River Big Swim Marathon in the 1970s and 1980s and in 2015
* event organizer, administrator and official of open water swimming and marathon swimming events in Tasmania from 1970
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