Australia’s Artistic Swimmers Christmas Celebrations
Australia’s Artistic Swimmers joined their patron, Mrs. Gina Rinehart for a Christmas celebration to toast their amazing 2023.
And after their fantastic results in Japan at the World Championships where the swimmers finished the meet with the highest level in their history, and their team was early accepted for the Paris olympics, there was much to celebrate!
Guests dined on Kidman meat pies and bannister milk in their Christmas head gear , excitingly discussing next year as they look towards Paris 2024.
Speeches from the swimmers and Brian Miller, previous Artistic Swimming President and generous supporter of the sport follow with photos.
OUR AMAZING PATRON | SPEECH BY BRIAN MILLER
Ladies, this short speech won’t do justice to the woman sitting in front of you tonight. But I’ll try, on behalf of Artistic Swimming !
Mrs Gina Rinehart or Mrs R as she’s affectionately known to us, is quite literally, a living legend.
Her reputation continues to grow and grow as a titan of industry, a generous philanthropist and importantly for our sport, a woman achieving extraordinary feats in a male-dominated world. At heart Mrs R is a private person and I know that much of her philanthropic and charity work is kept secret and goes unadvertised. Unlike some others, she prefers to “do” things rather than “talk” about things.
Mrs R is a proud Australian and a proud Western Australian and she initially came into our synchro world in 2014 when she first decided to support SynchroWA. And since then, her contribution has been life changing for many girls and women in WA and across Australia. Families have told me that without Mrs R’s generosity their daughters would not have become world class swimmers and Olympians due to the financial demands placed on parents. For many artistic swimmers sitting here tonight, that is true.
Mrs R is a leader in the mining and agricultural industries in Australia, but she’s also a leader in her support of Australia’s Olympic efforts. Mrs R is the patron of 4 Olympic sports, and she is the single largest non-government contributor to the Olympic effort in Australian history. She has received the rare honour of the Order of Merit from the AOC.
Mrs R is not just the esteemed patron of our sport, she is the role model we need.
As a mother who raised her children by herself, Mrs R has achieved things most of us can only dream of. For women in Australia, she is a shining beacon of what can be achieved with hard work, a good heart and unrelenting optimism. She has written the book of how to get things done in a man’s world. Like all of the accomplished young ladies sitting here tonight she has done it all herself, sometimes with good people around her, but often up against great obstacles.
Mrs R became the Executive Chair of Hancock Prospecting more than 30 years ago and while the press tries to create an image of her as being a mining heiress, the truth is Mrs R inherited a company which was labouring under difficulties and was financially troubled.
Since that time, Mrs R has truly transformed the company and it has diversified into a number of different industries including mining, agriculture and natural gas to name but a few. We have had the benefits of Mrs R is involvement in farming – thank you very much for the gifts of meat and milk!!
But there is also lithium, Driza-bone clothing, Rossi boots, and most recently truffle farming. Her business empire has grown to be Australia’s biggest private company by far.
One of Mrs R’s most famous achievements relates to $US10 billion Roy Hill project, and the swimmers and coaches all had a fascinating visit to the office a few weeks ago. Mrs R borrowed money from 19 of the largest banks in the world and paid the debt back in record time. Also, importantly, much of the plant onsite at Roy Hill is painted pink in support of those suffering from breast cancer and also as support for women working in mining.
To my knowledge Mrs R and her companies have been awarded dozens and dozens of prestigious awards in the last few years. I’m sure I won’t do her justice and I’m only listing about one tenth of all of her awards, but she has been the recipient of awards from or for the following:
The Australian Export Hero’s Award
The Telstra Business Woman of the Year Award
The Diggers & Dealers “Deal of the Year” and “Miner of the Year” Awards
The Visionary CEO of the Year Award
The Trailblazer of Australia Award
The Free Enterprise Leader Award
Honorary Doctorate from Bond University
The Chairman of the Year Award, The Chairperson of the Year Award
The Lifetime Achiever’s Award
The Australian Miner of the Decade
The Women in Resources Lifetime Achievement Award
The Excellence in Mining Award
The Angkor Award for leadership in female empowerment from the Cambodian Children’s Fund
CEO Magazine inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award
An Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)
The Business Leader of the Year Award
The Western Australian of the Year Award
The Australian Financial Review’s Business Person of the Year Award
And finally, The Inaugural Life Member of Artistic Swimming WA !!
Our artistic swimmers aspire to be the very best, the best that they can be in the pool and out of it. They could have no better patron and role model than Mrs R – and we are very grateful to have you – Mrs R – on our team.
Ladies please be upstanding in joining me in toasting the good health and “Mrs R”.
19th December 2023
IN DEEPEST APPRECIATION OF MRS GINA RINEHART AO
Good evening everyone,
I’m Rayna. And I’m Milena.
And we would like to say a few words on behalf of the team to express our gratitude and appreciation for our very special patron, Mrs R.
Milena:
First and foremost, I want to express my deepest appreciation for Mrs R’s generosity and support in playing an instrumental role in artistic swimming in Australia. Thanks to Mrs R, the Australian national team now has its first centralised program, with access to a gym, recovery, a physio, nutritionist and doctor, a world renowned coach, and countless other generosities. All of this has been a catalyst for our improvement and results, which we would have never thought were possible without you.
Mrs R has always had a genuine passion for our sport and I know that everyone here agrees that her unwavering dedication to artistic swimming has truly made a world of difference in each and every one of our lives. It would not have been possible for us to achieve the phenomenal jump from the 22nd place to 8th in the world without her support and belief.
Rayna:
But beyond the financial contribution, what sets Mrs R apart is her willingness to be more than just a financial supporter. Your active engagement with our team and giving us once in a lifetime experiences such as a flight on a private jet or getting to see the Roy Hill mine site, make your support all the more special. Furthermore, the delicious Kidman steaks and Bannister Downs milk that you have provided us keep us strong and training hard to bring artistic swimming Australia further on the world stage.
It’s not only about the resources that you have provided for us but the trust and belief you have invested in us. Your support has empowered us and has given us the confidence to strive for even greater heights.
In closing, we would like to present you with this as a token of our appreciation.
Thank you once again Mrs R. and we look forward to continuing this incredible journey together, to Paris and beyond !
