Chris Blankley honoured with LIWA Aquatics’ highest award

Few people can look back on almost five decades in an industry and see their influence reflected not just in the facilities they managed, but in the people, practices and professional networks that followed.

Chris Blankley, long-time leader at the Shire of Mundaring’s Bilgoman Aquatic Centre and Mt Helena Aquatic Centre, was presented with the 2026 Smith–Robertson Award at the WA Aquatic & Recreation Industry Awards, proudly supported by event Platinum Sponsor Jonas Leisure.

The Smith–Robertson Award is the highest honour presented by LIWA Aquatics, recognising an individual whose sustained leadership and service has made an outstanding and enduring contribution to the aquatic recreation industry.

Chris’s career began in 1976 when, at just 18, he started as a lifeguard at Bilgoman Pool. By 1980 he had become Pool Manager, before going on to serve as Coordinator Aquatic Facilities at the Shire of Mundaring from 1993 until his retirement in 2023. Remarkably, across Bilgoman Pool’s first 55 years, Chris was only its second manager.

His contribution to LIWA Aquatics has been equally significant. Chris joined the LIWA Board in 1987 and served for 34 years, including 10 years as Vice President. For more than three decades he helped lead country and northwest seminars and supported the Annual Conference Trade Display, building connections between professionals across metropolitan and regional WA.

Chris also played an important role in shaping safer industry practice. He championed the Watch Around Water parental supervision program and represented the industry on the Australian Standards committee reviewing the storage and handling of chlorine gas. As a Royal Life Saving WA vocational trainer from 2005, he shared his expertise across first aid, lifeguarding and aquatic operations throughout metropolitan and regional WA.

Retirement, it turns out, has been a fairly loose concept.

Chris continues to support the Shire of Mundaring as a casual employee and, in 2026, volunteered his time to facilitate LIWA regional seminars in Toodyay and Margaret River. It is a fitting continuation of a career characterised by generosity with his knowledge and a willingness to help others across the industry.

Chris was previously awarded LIWA Aquatics Life Membership and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009. The Smith–Robertson Award adds the Institute’s highest honour to a career that has helped shape WA’s aquatic industry for generations.

LIWA Aquatics congratulates Chris Blankley on receiving the 2026 Smith–Robertson Award and, more importantly, thanks him for almost five decades of service, leadership and friendship to our industry.