Speaker Jan Swinhoe
President Athletics Australia
Jan grew up in country NSW. Her father was Deputy Principal at Tamworth High School where she completed her HSC.
Both of her parents had been elite tennis players, as well as being very competent in many other sports. With this background Jan keenly competed in tennis, squash, netball, volleyball, athletics and cross country in her school and university years. She was especially enthusiastic about cross country and distance running, along with being close to nature.
A Science Degree (majoring in Pure Mathematics) and her Actuarial qualifications (through the Institute of Actuaries in London) followed.
Jan’s executive career was in superannuation, investment and private banking where she held general management positions across a number of high-profile companies such as Citibank, Westpac and AMP. Since 2011, Jan has turned her career to Non-Executive Director roles.
In addition to Athletics Australia, she is Chair of Mercer Superannuation Australia Limited and sits on the Boards of Swiss Re (Australia and NZ), IMB limited and Australian Philanthropic Services.
In the meantime, Jan has never stopped running. Over the years her distances increased to half marathons in her thirties and marathons from her mid-fifties. She has run five marathons since turning 55 (Melbourne, Gold Coast, Berlin, Tokyo and London). Her three children are also keen sportspeople with two competing at National standard, in distance, of course.
As the Olympic sports have increased in competition, they have also increased their focus on governance, risk management, financial management and culture.
It is this unique intersection of sport and mathematics that prompted Jan to express her interest in the Athletics Australia Board, which she joined in 2014. In 2021, she was unanimously appointed to be President, while concurrently being an active member of the Audit, Risk and Finance Committee, the People and Culture Committee, the Board Nominations Committee and the RunWest Board (which is a joint venture between AA and ANSW).
She remains passionate about the benefits of athletics to people of all ages and abilities. Jan says “at the end of the day, you only need a t shirt, shorts and a pair of shoes. It is the great equalizer globally. And in many places, you don’t need all of those things.” Jan aspires to still be running when she is over 100, albeit slowly