Iain Jones

“Prior to living in Orange I lived in Cairns for 12 months and prior to that I was in Alice Springs for seven years. The Pool Manager position brought me to Orange, it was a dream job that I had been looking at for the last couple of years.

I love Aquatics and have always loved Aquatics; I’ve been doing it close to 40 years. I was what you’d call a ‘Clubby’ I was very much Surf Club based. I worked at Bronte Beach, working alongside ‘Hopper’ from Bondi Rescue, I worked for WESTPAC lifesaver rescue helicopter in Lismore for seven years. I loved the comradery and the team building, we worked in small teams and when you’re dangling on a wire 150m above the water it can be a bit of a thrill.

Swimming has been very good to me, I went to Barcelona in ‘92 as a Paralympic Coach. I’ve worked with world champion triathletes.

I’m a silver level swim coach, I’m a high-performance triathlon coach, I’m a CrossFit, strength and conditioning coach as well as a PT. For me, Aquatics is about giving back, giving back to the community and sharing the knowledge. Believe it or not, I also love to read, my favourite author is James Patterson.

I’m very proud of my three children, who are all grown up now, and my new extended family, they are awesome. I’ve got a great bunch of staff and great clients, it’s a win-win situation across the board for me.

My mentor said to me when I was just starting out, ‘It’s not what you know, but how much you care’ and that’s one thing I have stuck to my entire life.”