Rad Pursey, a swimming stalwart who married his love of the sport with his professional career to bring sponsorship to the ASA, has passed away.

The Devon resident was instrumental in securing Green Shield Stamps sponsorship for the ASA’s National Age Group Championships in 1973 and later that year supporting England’s first ever National Age Group Swimming Squad, latterly the Green Shield National Youth Squad.  

Pursey, who at the time was the trading stamp company’s Merchandising Manager, had already been involved with the ASA at county level with the then Southern Counties and at the time of the sponsorship deal described himself as a ‘very keen Age Group parent’.

Speaking in the 70s he said he hoped that with the financial backing from his company (initially a total of £50,000 over three years but later extended), Britain may be able to produce another multiple Olympic medallist like Australia’s Shane Gould or America’s Mark Spitz.

Green Shield Stamps’ deal went on to inject more money into English swimming by sponsoring an Inter-District Knockout competition and giving further financial assistance to each of the five Districts.

Pursey continued to use his commercial knowledge to help swimming, becoming a director of the ASA Swimming Enterprises Limited.  Indeed, it was Pursey who came up with the name for the business when the ASA Honarary Treasurer/President, Alfred Turner, decided to form a company in May 1982 to deal with ASA merchandising.

Gordon Alexander, who was a director of the limited company with Pursey, Fred Collins and Fred Latimer, said: “During my association with Rad at that time, we came to become good friends and he impressed me as a man of considerable character who could always be trusted to come up with sensible conclusions to the many problems that arose.”

Upon the death of Fred Collins, Pursey became the company chairman and he remained in that office until his retirement.

Rad Pursey makes the Trophy presentation to the captains of the Southern Counties teams, Brian Lonsdale and Michele Crook, in December 1973.