Andrew Clark, Head of Sports & Aquatics at GLL, has led the organisation’s swimming programme since 2007, growing it from 20 to 149 pool facilities and building an award-winning team of aquatic specialists that supports over 20 million pool visits and 230,000 weekly lesson participants, including navigating the challenges of an Olympic Games.

In addition to sitting on the All Party Parliamentary Group for Swimming (APPG), Andrew represents national operators on the Swimming Alliance, serves as Vice Chair of the Swimming Alliance, and is Chair of the Schools Swimming Taskforce. He is passionate about making a difference and brings valuable insight into the current status and direction of the industry.

Kayle Brightwell first joined STA in 2012 as Head of Qualification Development and is now Director of Education. She leads the aquatics technical team and oversees the progression of all aquatic qualifications, ensuring they align with CIMSPA’s professional standards
across swimming teaching, lifesaving, first aid, open water, and pool plant operations.

Jo Talbot is the Commercial Director at RLSS UK (Royal Life Saving Society UK), where she leads the organisation’s commercial strategy in support of its vital mission: preventing drowning and improving water safety across the UK and Ireland.
With an extensive background in water safety and commercial leadership, Jo is responsible for driving sustainable income growth, developing strategic partnerships, and ensuring that RLSS UK’s products, services, and training programmes deliver meaningful value to both stakeholders and communities. Her approach is centred on balancing commercial success with social impact, enabling the charity to reinvest in lifesaving education, training, and awareness campaigns.
Jo is widely recognised for her collaborative and pragmatic leadership style, combining strategic vision with strong operational delivery. She works closely with internal teams, external partners, and industry stakeholders to identify new opportunities, innovate service offerings, and build long-term relationships that advance RLSS UK’s charitable objectives.
A key passion for Jo is providing free, high-quality guidance to the sector. Having previously worked as a swimming pool operator, she understands first-hand the critical role clear, practical guidance plays in keeping people safe. Through partnership working with organisations including CIMSPA, ukactive, and Swim England, Jo has helped to develop and publish essential guidance on areas such as technology, non-lifeguarded pools, and other emerging operational challenges.
Jo is deeply committed to supporting the leisure sector and all operators of swimming pools, beaches, and open water environments. Through education, innovation, and collaboration, she champions safe, inclusive access to water, helping operators create environments where people can enjoy water confidently and responsibly, regardless of setting.

Sarah Cox is a Chartered Physiotherapist with a passion for patient centred care and interventions, overlapping medical interventions and pathways in to health activity behaviour change using water. As an active member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and linking Sport England with the CSP on campaigns such as “Stronger My Way” she is also a member of the ATACP (Aquatic Therapy Association of Chartered Physiotherapy). She has fostered relationships with other organisations who are involved in the water activity workspace including National Co-ordinating Committee for disabled swimming, Swim England and Halliwick Association of Swimming Therapy, with the aim to increase the awareness and communication between health providers and local pools to assist with the patient to participant activity pathway. She has been part of the rapid response team of the Hydrotherapy Alliance a group supporting a cross party group in Parliament on Axial Spa and supporting NHS and local pools with refurb, remodelling and threat of closure issues. Been part of NICE scoping workshops for Rehabilitation after traumatic injury guidelines. Sarah has been project manager and one of the key content developers alongside Swim England on the NHS e-learn module on Aquatic Activity.

Sarah’s past and present teaching roles, internationally recognised Halliwick Lecturer, Swim England Educator in Aquatic Activity for Health and presenting CPD’s on supporting swimmers with a long term health condition. She completed a PGCert in Clinical Research, Education and leadership at Cambridge in 2021.

A Senior Leader within over 25yrs experience in the leisure industry, currently a member of the Senior Leadership Team at Barnsley Premier Leisure with oversight of a range of large leisure facilities with direct responsibility for a number of contracts and strategic direction of the company.

Deborah is an experienced professional within the sport and leisure sector, with over 25 years of industry experience. Her career began as a lifeguard, and through dedication, expertise, and a passion for development, she has progressed through roles including centre management to her current position within GLL’s Corporate Technical Department as a Regional Facilities Manager.
In her regional role, Deborah supports leisure centre teams across all aspects of facilities management, ensuring safe, compliant, and high performing environments within the sport and leisure industry. Her extensive practical background allows her to combine operational understanding with strategic oversight, making her a trusted source of guidance and support for teams at every level.
Deborah holds a range of professional and job specific qualifications, including an IWFM (formerly BIFM) qualification in Facilities Management. She has also been NPLQ Trainer Assessor and currently serves as the Lead Tutor for the STA Level 3 Award in Pool Plant Operations for GLL.
Having worked her way through the ranks herself, Deborah is a strong advocate for mentoring and supporting operational teams. She is passionate about helping individuals build confidence, competence, and a thorough understanding of swimming pool plant room operations and management.
Outside of work, Deborah is a keen health and fitness enthusiast. She enjoys trekking with her GLL colleagues through organised social events, as well as in her personal time with her own walking group, “Girls Go Trekking.”

Jo Talbot is the Commercial Director at RLSS UK (Royal Life Saving Society UK), where she leads the organisation’s commercial strategy in support of its vital mission: preventing drowning and improving water safety across the UK and Ireland.
With an extensive background in water safety and commercial leadership, Jo is responsible for driving sustainable income growth, developing strategic partnerships, and ensuring that RLSS UK’s products, services, and training programmes deliver meaningful value to both stakeholders and communities. Her approach is centred on balancing commercial success with social impact, enabling the charity to reinvest in lifesaving education, training, and awareness campaigns.
Jo is widely recognised for her collaborative and pragmatic leadership style, combining strategic vision with strong operational delivery. She works closely with internal teams, external partners, and industry stakeholders to identify new opportunities, innovate service offerings, and build long-term relationships that advance RLSS UK’s charitable objectives.
A key passion for Jo is providing free, high-quality guidance to the sector. Having previously worked as a swimming pool operator, she understands first-hand the critical role clear, practical guidance plays in keeping people safe. Through partnership working with organisations including CIMSPA, ukactive, and Swim England, Jo has helped to develop and publish essential guidance on areas such as technology, non-lifeguarded pools, and other emerging operational challenges.
Jo is deeply committed to supporting the leisure sector and all operators of swimming pools, beaches, and open water environments. Through education, innovation, and collaboration, she champions safe, inclusive access to water, helping operators create environments where people can enjoy water confidently and responsibly, regardless of setting.

Stuart is a doctor experienced in Anaesthetics/Critical Care and Emergency Medicine.

He studied at the University of Aberdeen before spending his medical elective with the US Coastguard at an Air Station in Alaska. Roles in New Zealand as an Emergency Department registrar and HEMS/SAR crew on the Westpac Helicopter Service followed before returning to the UK at the start of 2018 to become a full-time Doctor and technical Crew (Winch Doctor) aboard Rescue Bond 1, the North Sea Search & Rescue Helicopter based in Aberdeen.

Stuart's expertise is in pre-hospital medicine and maritime search and rescue, and he currently works as a Crew Resource Management (CRM) Trainer (with a strong interest in human factors) and a Pre-Hospital Emergency Care (PHEC) Instructor with Basics Scotland.

He has been involved with the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RLNI) for twenty years as an All-Weather (ALB) and Inshore Lifeboat Crew (ILB) and held positions on the Scottish and International RNLI Flood Rescue Team and was appointed the RNLI Regional Medical Adviser for Scotland in 2021.

Nick Grazier began working with the Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK) in 2018, joining the organisation as an Awards and Qualifications Developer. In this role, he played a key part in the development and delivery of nationally recognised lifesaving awards and qualifications, supporting RLSS UK’s mission to reduce drowning through education, training, and lifesaving excellence.
Nick now holds the position of Deputy Director of Commercial Services at RLSS UK. In this senior leadership role, he provides strategic and operational oversight of the Awards and Qualifications portfolio, Training services, and the RLSS UK Shop, ensuring these services are high quality, accessible, and commercially sustainable. He prides himself on ensuring that the support and services delivered by RLSS UK are exceptional, enabling operators to provide safe, well managed environments where people can confidently enjoy water. Alongside his UK responsibilities, Nick also serves as an RLSS Portfolio Director for RLSS Commonwealth, where he oversees and advises on international strategy relating to Lifeguard Solutions, working closely with Commonwealth members to promote consistency, quality, and best practice worldwide.
Nick began his career in the leisure industry at the age of 16 as a Lifeguard, developing vital frontline experience that has shaped his lifelong commitment to water safety. He has since progressed through a wide range of roles across the sector, from operational positions to Head of National Training for a large UK leisure operator. This breadth of experience has given Nick a deep understanding of the challenges and responsibilities faced by leisure providers.

Andy’s Story - When a safety lead became a cardiac arrest survivor
In March 2022, Andy stood down as Head of Safety at Places Leisure. He was determined not to retire and has since focused on voluntary roles, including the establishment of a registered Defibrillator Charity.
He is an independent member of the RLSS UK Operator Group and chairs the Swimming Pool Supervision Technology Industry Guidance Working Group.
Having been involved in the leisure industry for all his career – reaching 50 years in May this year Andy has been a Board Member of Suffolk Sport and Active Suffolk and spent over 20 years as a member of the ukactive ‘Technical, Health and Safety Forum’; represented the Public Swimming Pools on the 179 Managing Health and Safety in Swimming Pools Working Group; appointed as the CIMSPA representative on the Sports Grounds Safety Authority with National Counter Terrorism Security Office; assisted with research for a paper, titled ‘Advancements in the medical aspects of rescue, first aid and resuscitation’ presented at the 2017 International Life Saving Federation Conference on Drowning Prevention in Vancouver, giving information in the use of AED’s where the first few minutes following cardiac arrest are critical.
Ironically, in 2018, Andy personally suffered an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest at home with a defibrillator giving 4 shocks to save his life.
This led to a change of priorities and his favoured saying that “all that is important in life is family, friends, blue skies, green trees and smiling faces”.
Andy was the first winner of the ukactive Jan Spaticchia Special Recognition Award for the impact through their outstanding work and involvement within the physical activity sector, followed by being awarded the winner of the Active Suffolk Lifetime Achievement Award

Nick Grazier began working with the Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK) in 2018, joining the organisation as an Awards and Qualifications Developer. In this role, he played a key part in the development and delivery of nationally recognised lifesaving awards and qualifications, supporting RLSS UK’s mission to reduce drowning through education, training, and lifesaving excellence.
Nick now holds the position of Deputy Director of Commercial Services at RLSS UK. In this senior leadership role, he provides strategic and operational oversight of the Awards and Qualifications portfolio, Training services, and the RLSS UK Shop, ensuring these services are high quality, accessible, and commercially sustainable. He prides himself on ensuring that the support and services delivered by RLSS UK are exceptional, enabling operators to provide safe, well managed environments where people can confidently enjoy water. Alongside his UK responsibilities, Nick also serves as an RLSS Portfolio Director for RLSS Commonwealth, where he oversees and advises on international strategy relating to Lifeguard Solutions, working closely with Commonwealth members to promote consistency, quality, and best practice worldwide.
Nick began his career in the leisure industry at the age of 16 as a Lifeguard, developing vital frontline experience that has shaped his lifelong commitment to water safety. He has since progressed through a wide range of roles across the sector, from operational positions to Head of National Training for a large UK leisure operator. This breadth of experience has given Nick a deep understanding of the challenges and responsibilities faced by leisure providers.

Spencer drives CIMSPA’s strategic output, ensuring that the organisation delivers widespread impact to sport and physical activity in the UK. Drawing on his extensive expertise, he spends much of his time gaining foresight into the sector, using it to ensure that CIMSPA is adaptable to change and that the frontline teams he manages are able to work effectively to deliver the strategy.

Alongside his role as Chief Strategy Officer of CIMSPA, Spencer Moore is also a member of the International Confederation of Registers of Exercise Professionals (ICREPS) board of directors and of the advisory board for Safe Sport International.

As an international swimmer, Spencer’s first professional role in sport and physical activity was as a recreation attendant. From this, he progressed through several frontline roles to teaching sports science, which he studied at university. He then moved on in the education sector to become head of curriculum for sport, public services and outdoor education.

A highlight of Spencer’s career has been his involvement in the UK Coaching Certificate coaching programme while working at British Swimming. The national governing body acted as a trailblazer for the initiative to create a consistent, high-quality education framework for coaches across a wide range of sports in the UK.

After a short time working as a consultant, Spencer joined CIMSPA to play a fundamental role in growing and shaping the organisation into the impactful representative body it is today.

Spencer is motivated by a drive to create positive change in the sector. He brings an adaptable leadership style to CIMSPA, supporting his team in ways that best suit the individuals to maximise their strengths. He weaves together complex elements of the organisation’s work to ensure that its strategy’s whole-system approach is delivered effectively.

Looking forward, Spencer is keen for recognition of the sector’s power in terms of its ability to contribute to national health, social and economic priorities. He sees CIMSPA’s system of issuing professional status as the future of sport and physical activity workforce deployment and gaining this recognition.

Sarah joined RLSS UK in December 2025, having previously worked as a Director at the Society for Endocrinology and undertaken consultancy work for the Royal Astronomical Society. Sarah brings an abundance of experience from working as a senior strategic professional across the higher education, charity, healthcare, and financial sectors. In previous roles, Sarah led teams with optimism and creativity to achieve results for membership development and engagement, marketing strategy, and fundraising.

Ian is the Founder & CEO of Level Water & Swim Collective. He is also a HBR Advisory Board and the Swimming Alliance Inclusion Chair.

Melona Headley is a social impact founder, educator, and speaker whose work focuses on expanding access to spaces, knowledge, and opportunities for communities historically excluded from them.

With over twenty years of experience in education and leadership, Melona works at the intersection of cultural competency, inclusion, and participation. Her work challenges organisations to rethink who feels welcome in environments such as aquatics, outdoor spaces, and leadership pathways, and what it takes to make those spaces genuinely accessible.

She is the founder of Bold Waters, a UK-based movement using open water and nature-based experiences to address drowning inequality while creating pathways into leadership and employment. Through programmes that combine water safety, confidence-building, and professional qualifications, Bold Waters supports young people to move from fear and exclusion to confidence, skills, and leadership.

Melona also developed a Cultural Competency CPD programme in partnership with the Swimming Teachers' Association, supporting aquatic organisations to better understand and engage communities that have historically been underrepresented in swimming and water safety.

Alongside her work in aquatics, Melona’s broader focus includes access to knowledge, wellbeing, and representation, with a growing body of work exploring how cultural understanding shapes participation across different sectors.
Her work is grounded in a clear belief: access is not just about opportunity being available, but about whether people feel informed, represented, and able to fully participate.

Jo Talbot is the Commercial Director at RLSS UK (Royal Life Saving Society UK), where she leads the organisation’s commercial strategy in support of its vital mission: preventing drowning and improving water safety across the UK and Ireland.
With an extensive background in water safety and commercial leadership, Jo is responsible for driving sustainable income growth, developing strategic partnerships, and ensuring that RLSS UK’s products, services, and training programmes deliver meaningful value to both stakeholders and communities. Her approach is centred on balancing commercial success with social impact, enabling the charity to reinvest in lifesaving education, training, and awareness campaigns.
Jo is widely recognised for her collaborative and pragmatic leadership style, combining strategic vision with strong operational delivery. She works closely with internal teams, external partners, and industry stakeholders to identify new opportunities, innovate service offerings, and build long-term relationships that advance RLSS UK’s charitable objectives.
A key passion for Jo is providing free, high-quality guidance to the sector. Having previously worked as a swimming pool operator, she understands first-hand the critical role clear, practical guidance plays in keeping people safe. Through partnership working with organisations including CIMSPA, ukactive, and Swim England, Jo has helped to develop and publish essential guidance on areas such as technology, non-lifeguarded pools, and other emerging operational challenges.
Jo is deeply committed to supporting the leisure sector and all operators of swimming pools, beaches, and open water environments. Through education, innovation, and collaboration, she champions safe, inclusive access to water, helping operators create environments where people can enjoy water confidently and responsibly, regardless of setting.

Rachael Hart is the Health and Safety Manager for Fitness First, overseeing safety across 26 clubs, including 12 non-lifeguarded pools. She leads on risk management, compliance, and incident prevention, ensuring robust systems are in place to protect both members and staff.
With a focus on practical, site-level implementation, she works closely with operational teams to embed effective safety controls and drive a strong safety culture. Rachael also manages regulatory relationships and is leading the transformation of the company’s health and safety systems to strengthen governance, digital compliance, and training.

Andrew Clark, Head of Sports & Aquatics at GLL, has led the organisation’s swimming programme since 2007, growing it from 20 to 149 pool facilities and building an award-winning team of aquatic specialists that supports over 20 million pool visits and 230,000 weekly lesson participants, including navigating the challenges of an Olympic Games.

In addition to sitting on the All Party Parliamentary Group for Swimming (APPG), Andrew represents national operators on the Swimming Alliance, serves as Vice Chair of the Swimming Alliance, and is Chair of the Schools Swimming Taskforce. He is passionate about making a difference and brings valuable insight into the current status and direction of the industry.

Kayle Brightwell first joined STA in 2012 as Head of Qualification Development and is now Director of Education. She leads the aquatics technical team and oversees the progression of all aquatic qualifications, ensuring they align with CIMSPA’s professional standards
across swimming teaching, lifesaving, first aid, open water, and pool plant operations.

Lorna Goldie, the Swim England National Aquatics Competency Manager – School Swimming, has devoted her career to enhancing the swimming attainment and water safety awareness of primary school children across the nation. With a wealth of experience spanning over 25 years in delivering and managing school swimming lessons, she has gained a profound understanding of the pivotal role played by comprehensive aquatic education.
In her previous roles, Lorna expertly managed a school swimming lesson programme attended by over 10,000 pupils, achieving a significant 20% increase in KS2 attainment results. Her leadership and guidance have empowered countless pupils with the confidence, skills, and knowledge essential for swimming enjoyment, whilst staying safe in, on and around water.
Currently, Lorna has taken on the national focus of improving school swimming and water safety. Her passion for this cause is evident in her unrelenting efforts to promote and advocate for the vital life skills that school swimming and water safety programmes impart. She works closely with schools, educators, parents, community groups, swimming lesson providers and stakeholders to drive the changes required to ensure that every child has access to high-quality swimming and water safety education.