Dr Harald Vervaecke:
GLSA Lifetime Achievements Award 2024
Belgium 07.11.2024. The Greek Lifesaving Sports Association presents the Lifetime Achievements Award 2024 to the “father” of world lifesaving and ILS Secretary General, Dr Harald Vervaecke, for his endless, diverse and outstanding contributions to water safety, drowning prevention and lifesaving sport.
Dr Vervaecke is most likely the most diverse and influential person in the world in this field in terms of education, administration and contributions. For over half a century, he has created or sustained numerous national and international lifesaving bodies, lobbied for the inclusion of lifesaving in the Olympic Games, wrote books, organized national, regional and world championships and conferences, created passionate followers, built capable leaders and infected millions of people with the virus of dedication to the supreme goal of saving lives. He does not like to receive awards and the acceptance of this honor, is a pleasant surprise.
The GLSA President, Dr Stathis Avramidis, said: “Steve Jobs had the signature of everyone who participated in creating the Mac put inside the computer. He understood that the persons behind the organisation are more important than the actual vision that they were building. Dr Harald Vervaecke’s motto is “do good anyway”. He trusts people. The ILS webpage is full of people that he thanked for their contributions to his vision for saving lives from drowning. The GLSA feels obliged to honor with this hamble way this giant of world lifesaving. If Harald did not exist, we would need to invent him!”
