Volunteer: A swimming way to be recognised
Swimming club’s Jan Pook gains award
Jan Pook admits she’s never been much of a swimmer — the highlight of her career in the water was a trophy for 25-metre backstroke when she was a young St John’s cadet.
Where she has overachieved in the sport is by helping thousands of young swimmers make it over the finish line as a timekeeper, referee, announcer and meet director with Taupō Swimming Club for the last 16 years.
She’s also a board member of the club, and helps out frequently at Swimming Bay of Plenty events.
For her hard work, Pook was recognised as this month’s Harcourt’s Taupō Good Sort.
She was nominated by Belinda Merz of Taupō Swimming Club, who described Pook as “the absolute backbone of Taupō Swimming Club”.
“Our club wouldn’t exist without this amazing woman at the head of it.”
Pook first got involved with the swimming club when her son became a last-minute entrant for a race.
“My son Keegan was in ‘learn to swim’ at the time.
“They needed an under-9-year-old male for a competition and took him.
“He got the bug and two weeks later, we were at his first individual race.”
Pook and her husband Steve trained as timekeepers as huge numbers of volunteers were needed to help run each race event.
She rose through the ranks quickly, becoming a referee and coordinating race meets.
Her son and daughter have long since grown up, but Pook still volunteers her time alongside her job as a long-term-conditions practice nurse at Pihanga Health in Tūrangi.
She describes her job, which she has done for 26 years, as “a job I love and am very passionate about”, and said the practice has been supportive of her volunteer work with Taupō Swimming Club.
“My employers have been very obliging.”
Although the family’s involvement with the club started because of their children — neither she nor Steve are swimmers — it became about much more than accompanying the kids to practices.
“We’ve had a lot of reasons to be involved.
“Us parents are dropping off and picking them up . . . but you do make
lifelong friends.
“And that’s why I’ve remained in it for so long — for the friends.
“It’s an awesome team to be a part of, I’ve got a really good team behind me who are all volunteers.
“I still encourage our parents to get involved in timekeeping and get certified. We rely heavily on our volunteer base because the funding is hard to get.”
The work was its own reward, she
said, but it was gratifying when young club members went on to bigger successes.
“We’ve had some pretty top swimmers come through Taupō Swimming Club through the years.
“It’s a pleasure to be there and it’s a team effort.”
Pook thanked Taupō Swimming Club for the nomination, as well as Harcourt’s, Bloomin Flowers and The Merchant for the award.