The Australian diving family has lost one its icons. Jack Barnett passed away last night surrounded by loved ones, after struggling with health issues in recent weeks. Jack was a pioneer of Australian diving and a major contributor to the development of the sport of diving in Australia. His earliest days in the sport were as an athlete competing successfully at state and national level in the 1940s /1950s. He was quick to recognise how much the general public enjoyed watching the spectacle of diving and as such he organised and participated in many dive shows and events which included amazing new tricks, often invented by Jack. Jack went on to become an accomplished diving coach and was one of Australias earliest professional diving coaches. Jack coached divers from learn to dive through to elite level and was a pioneer of dryland training and, in particular, overhead harness training. It is important to acknowledge and properly pay tribute to the fact that Jack was one of a small group of passionate diving supporters who instigated the breakaway of diving from Australian Swimming, thus forming the Australian Diving Association (now Diving Australia). It was no surprise that Jack became a prominent figure on the world diving scene and was well respected by the international diving community. Due to Jack establishing the Australian distributorship for Duraflex diving boards he was also an integral part of the sport in terms of growth in relation to facilities and diving venues. On a more personal level Jack was a devout family man and was well known for his spontaneous sense of humour and enjoyed nothing more than sharing a good joke with friends. Diving Australia pays tribute to its Life Member, Jack Barnett, and on behalf of the Australian Diving family, extends our deepest condolences and best wishes to Madeleine and the extended Barnett family.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 05:35:53 +0000
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