British Swimming would like to congratulate five officials who have been appointed to the latest FINA Swimming Officials list.
The British quintet - whose four-year terms began on 1st January - is made up of referees Jackie Beard Jones, Durno Jessiman and Stuart Murray, as well as Matt Huntington and Gerry Metcalfe, who are both starters.
The appointments mean that Jackie, Durno, Stuart, Matt and Gerry will be eligible to officiate at international events promoted by FINA and LEN, as well as taking on senior roles at the domestic events of British Swimming and our Home Nations partners.
It takes the number of our FINA-listed referees to seven (with the above trio joining Tom Baster, Craig Hunter, Gillian Smith and Heather Summerill in that position), while the newly-appointed starters join Sam Chadwick and Rhiannon Edwards on FINA's ratified list.
Ahead of this summer's rescheduled Olympic Games in Tokyo, FINA have also confirmed that Helen Akers (technical official) and Craig Hunter (referee) will represent Great Britain among the swimming officials team. Both were initially set for those roles last summer, before the Games were postponed.
On the latest appointments, British Swimming CEO Jack Buckner said:
"We send our congratulations to each individual who will take their deserved and hard-earned place on FINA's list of officials for the next four years.
"Our officials play a crucial role in making our sports what they are, ensuring our aquatics events run so smoothly and allowing the athletes to do what they do best. This number of appointments shows how privileged we are to work with such high-quality officials at British Swimming events."
All of our FINA-listed officials have participated in the British Swimming development programme, where they gain experience of officiating at the highest level in the country, before going on to international opportunities and their nomination to FINA. For further details on this programme and to register your interest in becoming a swimming technical official, visit the British Swimming website HERE.