Olympic Swimmer Corney Swanepoel Face For Awards

PRESS RELEASE

Olympic swimmer Corney Swanepoel –
the face of Westpac Enterprise North Shore Business Excellence Awards 2004

Vision, integrity, perseverance. These are among the many fine qualities North Harbour swimming champion Corney Swanepoel exhibited to earn his place in the 13-strong New Zealand Olympic swim team bound for Athens in August.

Eighteen-year-old Swanepoel, a Year 13 Rangitoto College student and a member of the North Shore Swimming Club based at the Millennium Institute of Sport and Health in Mairangi Bay, is the face of Westpac Enterprise North Shore Business Excellence Awards 2004.

A powerful image of Swanepoel frozen mid-flight in his specialist event, the 100-metres butterfly, is inspiring businesses throughout North Shore to enter the region’s premier business awards.

Swanepoel excelled at the recent national swimming championships, winning the men’s 100-metres butterfly event in a national record time of 52.50 seconds. In doing so, he broke his own age group and open records. The age group record was previously held by Olympic champion and world record holder Danyon Loader, and the open record was previously held by Olympic medallist and Commonwealth champion Anthony Mosse.

Swanepoel’s time qualified him for Olympic selection in the New Zealand team.

He also holds the national 50-metres butterfly record of 23.99 seconds previously held by former New Zealand world relay champion John Winter.

He says determination, hard work and support from the people around him lie at the heart of his success. Goal setting has also played its part.

“I knew I wanted to compete at the Olympics even before I began swimming - back when I was about nine years old. It seemed an awesome goal. I began swimming seriously when I was about 14 and, though I was aiming for Olympic selection in the future, it has only been in the past two years that I realised I could make it to the 2004s.”

The Olympic heats of Corney’s event are to be held on August 19.

Enterprise North Shore Chief Executive Terry Hoskins says: “Achieving success in business requires similar qualities to those that Corney has exhibited in reaching Olympic selection. It starts with a goal and requires vision, integrity and perseverance - the words that signify this year’s business awards.”

Bruce McLachlan, General Manager Business for Westpac, says celebrating accomplishments is an important aspect of ongoing success.

“In business, as in sport, we need to encourage and recognise outstanding achievers. The Westpac Enterprise North Shore Business Excellence Awards offer businesses the opportunity to assess their progress, benchmark it against specific criteria and celebrate their achievements.”

The Westpac Enterprise North Shore Business Excellence Awards have grown from their beginnings in 1998 to become the way North Shore businesses celebrate their success and contribution to the North Shore economy.

Entries close on June 17, and winners will be announced at a Gala Dinner at the Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna, on August 26.
For further information email team@enterprisens.org.nz or visit www.enterprisens.org.nz/awards

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