Profile: A. J. DONALDSON

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30586, 31 October 1964, Page 11

Profile: A. J. DONALDSON

TT was appropriate that A. x J. Donaldson, who has always maintained that the service a man or woman gives to a sport should not be measured in years but in ability and results, has had his own contribution to swimming recognised at an age when most men are just getting to grips with their assignments. The New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association’s action in conferring life membership on him last week-end made him the youngest man by far to receive the honour. He would be the first to admit that for the last five years he has been in the

position to make a positive contribution to the sport. He is, in fact, “Mr Swimming,” for he holds the posts of national treasurer, chairman of the council and chief selector. For two years, 1960 and 1961, he was New Zealand president as well. But even with these unrivalled opportunities he would have made little headway had it not been for his natural ability as a leader, a director and a planner. In his role as the No. 1 administrator he has moved swimming ahead with such pace and purpose that the sport has entered a

new and exciting phase. Since 1959, when he became chairman of the council, mountains have been moved to bring the standard of the Dominion’s swimming closer to world class. There have been visits by leading overseas competitors Anita Lonsbrough and Natalie Steward, Dawn Fraser, the Japanese worldbeaters, the polished American pair Robyn Ann Johnson and Barbara McAllister and the Canadian Empire Games team—as well as coaching tours by such notable men as Don Talbot and Dr. James Counsilman. On a more domestic plane there has been the 1962 Empire Games training school, which lifted the standard of the top swimmers markedly, and the successful reintroduction of the educational tours which have given a fillip to a much wider section of the country’s swimmers. But possibly his greatest single contribution to the progress of swimming in New Zealand was his epochal visit to Australia in 1961; a visit in which he established a close liaison with ’ the Amateur Swimming Union of Australia and laid the foundation for reciprocal visits by competitors from the two countries. The success of a small, unheralded New Zealand team in winning four gold medals in senior events at the 1962 Australian championships was an immediate consequence of his work.

In his drive to lift the sights of New Zealand swimming he has encountered opposition; but now there is a growing awareness of the importance of his strong, sagacious leadership. Jack Donaldson is not a fire-eater but he has a particularly compelling personality that projects through all his actions. He adopts a strong line, but it is never inflexible; he is a good listener as well as being a convincing speaker and his broad sense of humour ensures that his feet are always on the ground.

As a chairman of meetings he is in a class of his own. His control of annual meetings of the national association has the effect of drawing out all that is useful and eliminating superfluity. And in his relationship with the press he has set a unique standard. It is little wonder that a suggestion that the national council should appoint a publicity officer lapsed, for he is the best man in the role that any sport could have. Jack Donaldson has the wheels of the country’s swimming machine turning

smoothly as he enters th* new season. It is a task into which he has thrown every ounce of his energy, knowledge and enthusiasm, a task that has called for enormous personal sacrifices. But it is a job that ho has accepted cheerfully, knowing full well that it entails nothing but hard work and onerous responsibility with the only possible reward being the knowledge of a job well done. For the man who is at the heart of swimming is a man with his heart in swimming.