Australian swimmer Kieran Perkins visited the Williamstown Swimming and Life Saving Club (WSLSC) on Sunday to honour one of its legendary volunteers.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist was there in his role as chief executive of the Australian Sports Commission to present its 2025 Volunteer of the Year Award to Veronica Treloar.
Treloar was recognised for her role co-ordinating Williamstown’s Starfish Nippers program for children with a disability.
When Treloar took on the role in 2016, Starfish Nippers had only five participants, but almost a decade on, 20 kids are enrolled and the program has a one-to-one volunteer-to-participant ratio for every session.
In 2024, Treloar’s expertise led to her joining Life Saving Victoria’s Adaptive Sport Working Group and she’s since been instrumental in introducing adaptive events into three major lifesaving carnivals, allowing 23 disabled athletes to compete in lifesaving sport for the first time.
“Volunteers like Veronica are at the heart of Australian sport,” Perkins said during a special ceremony held in front of the WSLSC on Williamstown Beach on 7 December.
“Her efforts to foster a culture of respect and accessibility, whether mentoring new volunteers or establishing adaptive events at major carnivals, show the power of a participant-centred approach.”
WSLSC president Joel Goode congratulated the woman known by everyone at the club as ‘V’.
“All of our members at Williamstown Lifesaving Club are just so proud of ‘V’ and her enormous contribution – to not only our club, but also to the Starfish Nippers and the adaptive sports movement across Australia,” Goode said.
