Former Hockeyroo and AIS performance manager Kim Crane has been appointed to the newly created position of National High Performance Director of Surfing Australia (SA).
Australian Sports Commission CEO Kate Palmer said Kim’s experience, which also included a stint as Manager High Performance Sport and Excellence at the News South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) would be a tremendous asset for surfing.
“In a short period of time, Kim made a tremendous contribution to the AIS in her role as Performance Manager,” she said.
“Her background as an elite athlete and time with NSWIS and the AIS has strengthened the overall high-performance network. We are confident that Kim will provide strong high-performance leadership to support surfing as it head into its first Olympic campaign in Tokyo.”
At the AIS, Kim was responsible for leading the work with key partners to develop high quality, effective high-performance plans and strategies aimed at achieving and sustaining performance targets.
Kim said: “I’m both humbled and genuinely thrilled to accept this new position. Having been blessed to grow up at Bells Beach, Torquay, I truly respect surfing’s grass roots and the cultural significance the sport holds within Australia. Surfing has an enormous history of success, and this is such an exciting time for the sport.”
SA CEO Andrew Stark said: “We were extremely fortunate to have an international field of outstanding applicants for this newly created role. Kim was a standout given her understanding and affinity with surfing coupled with her Olympic experience and knowledge and network of the Australian sporting system.”
She will start in the role on September 11 based at the Hurley Surfing Australia High Performance Centre at Casuarina Beach in northern New South Wales.