Kelly Stark-Anderson succeeds Lisa Schott as President
At its Annual Meeting, the outgoing President of Aquatics Canada (AC), Lisa Schott, welcomed Kelly Stark-Anderson as the organization’s new President. Ms. Stark-Anderson had previously served as the President and Chair of the Board of Diving Plongeon Canada, the national sport governing body for springboard and tower diving. A member of the AC Board of Directors for several years, she was also on the Governance Committee for the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC).
In her professional life, Ms. Stark-Anderson has over 25 years of experience as a lawyer. Based in Toronto, Ontario she is currently the Executive Vice President – Corporate Affairs, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary | Corporate Compliance Officer with Dundee Precious Metals. Ms. Stark-Anderson obtained her Bachelor of Laws from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Economics from the University of Calgary.
During President Schott’s nine years at the helm of AC, Canada’s four aquatic sports, artistic swimming, diving, swimming and water polo, produced outstanding results both in and out of the water. Indeed, during her tenure, the proudest achievement of Aquatics Canada has been the hosting of 61 international events in Canada including the FINA World Masters Championships in 2014, the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in 2016, seven FINA Diving World Series and three FINA Artistic Swimming World Series, as well as holding the aquatic events at the Pan American Games in 2015. This stellar record has established Canada as a leader in FINA event hosting.
The President of Swimming Canada paid tribute to the outgoing leader. “Lisa Schott has set the standard for aquatic leadership in Canada with intelligence, grace, enthusiasm and an unwavering belief that we work better as a team,” said Cheryl Gibson. “Canada is fortunate to have another exceptional individual, Kelly Stark-Anderson, to take on the role vacated by Lisa. We are in good hands.”
“I am very excited to be taking on the role of President of Aquatics Canada Aquatiques, working to promote the interests and to support the success of Canadian athletes and the disciplines of swimming, water polo, artistic swimming and diving internationally,” said Kelly Stark-Anderson. “I want to express my gratitude to Lisa Schott for her many years of dedication and leadership to this great community of athletes, coaches, staff, judges and volunteers.”
Ms. Schott will continue to play an essential role in the sport of Artistic Swimming as she currently serves as Chair of the FINA Technical Committee (Artistic Swimming) and Vice-Chair of the UANA Artistic Swimming Technical Committee.