WHAT IS THE FREDDIE ROWE SPORTS CUP?
The Freddie Rowe Sports Cup is the premier award issued by Poole Sports Council to mark outstanding performance, achievement or service in sport by an individual.
WHAT QUALIFIES FOR NOMINATION?
Any outstanding achievement in sport, e.g. winning world or national events or by coaching, dedication or long service to a club or sport, e.g. as a coach, club secretary or volunteer.
2015 CITATION FOR MARK SHAKLES’S NOMINATION
Mark has been a member of RLSS Poole Lifeguards since 1981. At that time the club provided voluntary lifeguard services throughout the summer months at Sandbanks Beaach. He became a Club Coxswain helming the Club’s rescue boats and in the 1990s qualified as an RLSS UK Trainer Assessor, training club members to become qualified beach lifeguards and rescue boat coxswains. He has regularly organised their training for the past 25 years.
Mark was also a member of the club’s competition squad for many years and regularly competed at national and international levels culminating in representing the RLSS- UK at several World Life Saving Championships. He won a silver medal in the Board Rescue at the World Champinships in Lubeck in Germany in 1992. He also became the RLSS-UK Ocean Squad Coach, before going on to lead the competition training for the club. The RLSS Poole Lifeguard Teams won the UK National Lifeguard Championships on a number of occasions and have a large string of successes to their accolade.
Poole Swimming Club re-established a Harbour Swim, by having a ‘Round Brownsea Swim’ in 1991, Mark swam in that event (coming 4th in a time of Ihr 45mins ). The event was run with the assistance of RLSS Poole Lifeguard and from 1992 onwards RLSS Poole Lifeguard took over the organisation of this Open Water swim. Mark has organised the this event ever since. Th e Brownsea Isladn Swim has now turned into a highly popular open water swim and is known to be one of the top 10 iconic swims in the country. Since 2009 the Brownsea Island Swim has helped raise over £100,000.00 for local, national and international charities as a result of mark encouraging swimmers to use the swim to raise money for charities of their choice. Mark has also helped organise the EDOWSC ‘Sea Horse Swim’ which now runs annually at Knowle Beach, Studland, raising funds for the National Trust and the Sea Horse Trust.
Mark is also an important member of East Dorset Open Water Swimming Club, advising on local conditions, briefing and guiding new swimmers to the club. As we’ve seen earlier this evening, he also swam in a Team Relay (Chilli Nutters) successfully crossing the Channel from Dover to Calais last year.
Amongst Mark’s other achievements, for 10 or more years he organised and ran a three-day rescue boat training course for the local lifeguard clubs on behalf of RLSS Wessex Branch. He also co-ordinated a closer working relationship between the entire voluntary lifeguard clubs in the Poole Bay area which lead to the formation in 1997 of The Poole, Bournemouth & Christchurch Lifesaving Association. Part of the development of this Association was the introduction of a series of competitions held annually between all the local voluntary Lifeguard and Life Saving Clubs known as the “Summer Twilight” competitions which take place on the beaches and the ‘Indoor Twilight’ competitions which take place in the swimming pool during the winter months.
Mark has given generously of his time for over 30 years and his expertise is second to none. Please show your appreciation for Mark
See the article in the Bournemouth Evening Echo Newspaper