Scotland’s Alistair Gray,  who helped bring a more professional approach to Scottish swimming, has been appointed as the new Chairman of British Swimming.

Gray, the founder and Managing Director of Genesis Conuslting, has led major strategic reviews of many sporting governing bodies and will spearhead British Swimming’s Board up to 2012.

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with British Swimming at this time in its life,” said Gray, who was the first Chairman of the Scottish Institute of Sport.   “It is especially exciting with the imminent prospect of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London. The sport has performed well in recent years, in and out of the water.

“I look forward to working with my new colleagues on the board and our executives to make Swimming even more successful in the future. I hope my style and experience will add to the considerable capabilities of the people in the sport.”

While hockey was his first love, Gray has been involved in a number of major development initiatives (that have contributed to the performance of a number of sports) include those with Scottish Swimming, England Netball and Scottish Golf.  He is also one of the founders of the Winning Scotland Foundation.

Maureen Campbell, the Chair of Scottish Swimming and the Scottish representative on the British Swimming Board, said: “Scottish Swimming is delighted to have Alistair join the board of British Swimming. He has already made a significant contribution to the high performance sport agenda in Scotland though his work at the Scottish Institute of Sport.

“He has an excellent ability to bring focus and clarity to complex challenges. We are confident he will make an equally valuable contribution to the development of British Swimming and wish him every success in his new role.”