John became a member of the Devon and Cornwall Police Life Saving Team in 1988 and has been an integral member of a highly successful men's team ever since. The team has been fortunate enough to experience a great deal of success over the years and John's excellent team work and more latterly his leadership skills, have been pivotal to the teams prowess.

John is due to retire after 30 years service in August of this year and it will see the end of an era.

John joined the Devon and Cornwall Police in September 1981 and while having enjoying a very successful career in terms of promotion, his obvious passion and ability for lifesaving has ensured that he has remained a focal member of the Devon and Cornwall men's team for 23years of his career. He has, in fact only missed one Police Baton Finals, when the Devon and Cornwall Team failed to qualify in 1993.

John's talent lies in his ability to act clearly and rationally within a team in a pressure situation. He has a great ability to perform as part of a team and his organized mind has ensured that very little has been ‘missed' by the team over the years in the competition arena. (except perhaps John's rope in Exeter in 1998 which failed to make its mark within the 70 seconds time limit causing a very disgruntled John to hurl it so hard at the pool wall it still bares the mark today!)

Whilst self professed as not much of a swimmer John tends to avoid the swim and tow section of the event and hence rarely competes in the individual event. On the two occasions he has been forced to enter the individual event John has come a very respectable 5 th on both occasions.

In 1989 John was elevated to captain of the team by default. The default being that by incapacitating the current captain by throwing a large heavy object at him he was duty bound to assume the mantle. He had to wait a further 21 years to regain the captaincy and in 2010 he led his team to victory for the first time under his leadership.

ohn has been a member of the Devon and Cornwall Men's Team from when it first won the Police Baton in York in 1988 to the current day where the team can boast a total of 13 wins as well as a smattering of second placing. A tremendous and unrivalled feat. He has made an amazing contribution to Life Saving over the years and I'm sure he will agree that he has made many of his best friends through the event. We shall all miss his friendship, commitment and undoubted final-do dancing ability. I am honoured to be able to present John with a Chairman's Certificate of Thanks for his outstanding contribution to police life saving.

Julian became a member of the Cleveland Police Life Saving Team in 1980 and has been ever present in the 30 years up until this competition. He has made a huge contribution to the Cleveland Team and has been a key factor in the success the team has been fortunate enough to experience. Julian is pending retirement after over 30 years service land it will see the end of an era.

Julian was part of the winning Police Baton Cleveland team in 1982 and 1984 and has received the Silver medals several times since this date. He has also represented the RLSS UK team and competed in Australia and Penang in the late 1980's.

Julian has continued to compete at the highest level and his enthusiasm and commitment to lifesaving remains strong even after 30 years. Julian will be sorely missed by his Cleveland teammates and by all of us. It is with great honour I invite Julian to receive a Chairman's Certificate of Thanks for his outstanding contribution to Police Life Saving.

Karen and Caroline are due to retire later this year after 30 years with Lancashire Constabulary.  Throughout their service they have both been active members of the lifesaving and swimming teams.  They have been part of the winning team on numerous occasions in the Alington cup.

Last year they continued with their winning streak but this time with the boys by entering and winning the Frank Morritt trophy.  Caroline m ade her first appearance in an R.L.S.S. final as a 14year old in 1977, She then represented the North West Region for the next 20 years, winning Two Gold National Titles in 1988 and 1989. In 1989 she was awarded the Dorothy Cadbury Shield for her services to Competitive Lifesaving. Caroline still holds a lot of swimming records including the Windermere 10 ¼ miles all-comers record set in 1979 and her English Channel record of 16 hours 32 minutes in 1986 which still remains to be beaten by a woman.

Karen won the swimming National Championships as a freestyler, and then joined Caroline to represent Great Britain in the Breaststroke event forming a winning partnership in the European Championships. Karen has been on two tours of Australia with the RLSS Great Britain team the first in 1988, competing in the Commonwealth Championships and Pan-Pacific Games. The second in 1988 when she captained the team, and won the commonwealth individual gold in one of the disciplines. In 1992 she competed in the Europeans in Sicily, and 1993 in Germany.

She has previously been awarded the Gold badge and Bar for her service to the RLSS.

Caroline and Karen's continued contribution to swimming and lifesaving is evident over the last thirty years and this should be celebrated and I am therefore honoured to be able to present them both with a Chairman's Certificate of Thanks for their outstanding contribution to police life saving.

Jim started his career in Police Lifesaving through the Tayside Police Lifesaving team in 1994. At this time the team was in a rebuilding phase and from the outset, Jim was instrumental in this process, soon assuming the Team Manager role and developing what has become a recognised strong contender in all event disciplines.

Soon after this in 1997 the men's team received the Frank Morritt trophy, then awarded for ‘Best improved team'. This was the forerunner to Jim becoming the Team Captain in 1998 from which point the team has achieved several top five placings and were winners in 2006 of the overall men's competition with the most convincing win for a number of years. Successes have not been confined to the National Championships as Jim has contributed and guided the Tayside team to glory at both the previously held and sadly missed Cleveland competition and the Scott Brown competition hosted annually by Nottinghamshire Police.

The Tayside Police Team has continued to thrive as a result of both Jim's drive and determination coupled with his organisational skills. This attention to detail was brought into great effect when Tayside Police hosted the 2010 National Championships. Jim was instrumental in planning and organising this event and his extensive efforts were rewarded with a competition which ran smoothly, was exceptionally well received by all who attended, and rewarded Tayside Police with trophies as an unexpected bonus.

Jim has been an active member of the Lifesaving Championship Technical Sub-committee since 2008 where his measured approach, willingness to support others and ruthless sense of humour have been welcomed assets to the group.

im will be leaving Tayside Police after more than 34 years of loyal service to both the Force he proudly served and Police Lifesaving. His departure will be a huge loss to the team as manager, captain and mentor and the committee as trusted member and supporter. Jims commitment to Police Lifesaving and his amiable nature will be missed by all. Jim I am very proud to invite you forward to receive a Chairman's Certificate of Thanks.

Janet joined the Glasgow City Police in 1962 and has been involved in Police Lifesaving since that time. She won Silver Medal at National Lifesaving Championships in 1970. From 1962 to 1970 she was Team Captain and Trainer with City of Glasgow Police Lifesaving Team . She has attended many ACPO competition since then as initially competitor and then judge/ official and now Chief Judge.

She has held numerous positions within the Royal Life Saving Society, and has been a key member on the UK Management Board since 1972. She is the Convenor of the College of Referees and is the UK representative on the ILS Sport Commission.

I will list just a few of her RLSS commendations and awards including:

1971 Certificate of Thanks

1979 Recognition Badge

1985 Bar to Recognition Badge

1989 Service Cross (Merit) and the Wilkinson Sword

1992 Bar to Service Cross (Merit)

1995 Honorary Life Governor

2005 Honorary Vice President

Janet is on the UK National List of Judges and has been a Judge and Referee at the World, Commonwealth, and European Championships since 1988, in Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, Japan, USA, Netherlands, Italy and Germany.

Janet has judged on the ACPO Lifesaving championships many many times and for the last two years has been our Chief Judge and has been as keen and motivated in helping ACPO Lifesaving since her initial involvement some 49 years ago – an unbelievable achievement devoting almost half a century to supporting Lifesaving and our event.