Johanna Norman BEM has died.
Having taught generations of people how to swim, her death was announced last night by the President of the Guernsey Swimming Club.
In a message shared on Facebook, Chris Butt wrote: “It is with great sadness that I have to inform you all that Jo passed away this afternoon, with all of her family with her.”
Mrs Norman’s commitment to the Guernsey Swimming Club is well known among past and present members.
Over five decades, she taught countless people how to swim, before overseeing the teaching of many other children, teenagers, and adults.
She had served on the committee of Guernsey Swimming Club since 1977 and was its President between 1994 and 2012.
Mr Butt said: “We will all miss her terribly, but she would want us all to carry on.”
His Majesty The King named Mrs Norman in his Birthday Honours List this year, recognising her decades-long commitment to the sport and life-saving skill with a British Empire Medal.
Speaking to Express in June, Mrs Norman said the honour was dedicated to her club.
“I was a bit surprised, naturally I’m overwhelmed, and I’m quite happy really to accept it on behalf of the club, because if it wasn’t for the club that I wouldn’t have been there for all these years!,” she said.
Mrs Norman explained that her childhood in Sark confirmed her lifelong belief that everyone needs to know how to swim.
“Everybody on an island has to learn to swim,” she said.
“My sister and I, we actually lived in Sark, so we had to learn to swim, our parents were very much of the thought that every child should learn to swim. We weren’t people to do netball or running or things like that, swimming was our favourite thing to do, and that’s how it all came about.”
Having learned to swim as a child herself, Mrs Norman went on to educate generations of swimmers in Guernsey.
This included every stage of teaching from sharing simple life-saving skills with her very youngest pupils in the small pool at Beau Sejour to coaching adult athletes who went on to represent Guernsey on the international stage.
This week has seen past pupils of Mrs Norman swim for Guernsey at the Commonwealth Games.
Charlie-Joe and Ronny Hallett and Emma Bourgaize are among numerous members of Guernsey Swimming Club who have represented the island at inter-insulars, regional and national competitions, the Island Games, Commonwealth Games, and the Olympic Games.
Mrs Norman’s eldest grandson is one of the directors of Guernsey Swimming Club.
He and other members of the club accompanied Mrs Norman when she joined the Lieutenant Governor at a reception at Government House to mark the King’s Official Birthday in June.
She had recently found out that she was to be awarded the BEM.
Mrs Norman said the volunteering that led to her being recognised by the Monarch all came from a need to step up and help her community. She was still regularly volunteering with the Guernsey Swimming Club very recently.
“It’s been wonderful, and I’m very grateful to the Guernsey Swimming Club for putting my name forward,” she said in June.
“You’re sitting up there, and you think you might as well put your hand in and help out, so that’s how it really all started,” she added. “Then you take the official appointments and things like that, and the time keeping and judging and all that, and you just keep going.
“It’s lovely to be with the children. I still turn up a couple of times a week and oversee the small pool. My legs don’t always take me around the pool now, but I still enjoy it.”
Announcing her death on Wednesday, Guernsey Swimming Club President, Mr Butt said he would “personally miss her no nonsense approach and her total willingness to move the club forward, without forgetting where we came from”.
“I too was privileged to be at Government House this summer when we saw Jo receive her BEM for services to the community and her dedication to swimming.
“Jo believed totally in the Guernsey Swimming Club and all that it stands for and will be sadly missed by us all.
“My thoughts are with Rodney, Kevin, Shannon and Callum at this time as we give them time to grieve.”
Mrs Norman has also previously been described as “instrumental” in establishing the Open Castle Charity Swim, which has raised tens of thousands of pounds for worthy local causes over the years.
This year’s event is being held on 9 August with entries available online.
Later next month the Guernsey Swimming Club is hosting a celebration of its 140th anniversary.
A ‘get together’ is being held at La Vallette Bathing Pools Cafe on Sunday 23 August between 15:00 and 20:00 to “celebrate over a century of local swimming history, memories, and community”.
Tickets are available by emailing social@guernseyswimming.com.
