Our Aquatics Awards celebrate the individuals and innovations making waves in the Aquatics industry.
Our Aquatics Awards Gala Dinner is held in August each year, part of the Waves conference.
See the 2025 Aquatics Awards winners
Award categories
Organisation Awards
All Organisation winners at the Aquatics Awards will automatically progress to the most relevant category at the Recreation Awards, giving leading aquatic facilities and programmes the opportunity for wider sector recognition.
Aquatic Innovation Award - Operations
This award recognises the success of a project that shows innovation, community engagement, industry leadership, and overall sustainability. We are looking for an initiative that enhances the aquatic experience, streamlines facility operations, and/or contributes to the wider industry.
Nominations open in May
Aquatic Innovation Award - Programmes
This award recognises the success of a programme that shows innovation, community engagement, industry leadership, and overall sustainability. We are looking for a programme that enhances the aquatic experience, streamlines service delivery, and/or contributes to the wider industry.
Nominations open in May
Aquatic Facility of the Year Award
Formerly known as the Outstanding Pool Award, this award recognises an exceptional aquatic facility where the primary purpose of the built structure is aquatic recreation. We are looking for facilities that demonstrate excellence through innovation, strong operations, community impact, and sound financial and usage data. Note: To be eligible for this award, the facility must have current PoolSafe® status.
Nominations open in May
Lifeguard of the Year Award
The Lifeguard of the Year Award recognises an outstanding lifeguard working at a PoolSafe® facility who contributes to their team, community, and the wider aquatics industry. We’re looking for exceptional people who enhance the aquatic experience for customers and colleagues through their enthusiasm and professionalism. Note: This award is presented to an individual.
Nominations open in May
Aquatics Leader of the Year - new in 2026
The Lifeguard of the Year Award recognises an outstanding lifeguard working at a PoolSafe® facility who contributes to their team, community, and the wider aquatics industry. We’re looking for exceptional people who enhance the aquatic experience for customers and colleagues through their enthusiasm and professionalism. Note: This award is presented to an individual.
Nominations open in May
Nomination eligibility
Any individual or organisation working in aquatics can be nominated for an Aquatics Award. To be eligible for an award, your facility must have current PoolSafe® status.
- Leader Award – the person must be nominated by another party.
- Organisation Award – an organisation can nominate themselves or be nominated by another party.
How to nominate
- Complete the nomination form, providing clear data or evidence showing how the applicant meets each judging criterion.
- Include three high-quality images to support your nomination.
- If the nomination is for a Leader Award, please provide a headshot of the nominee.
Nomination essentials
- All nominations must be submitted electronically. We do not accept hard copy nominations.
- You must respond to every judging criterion for your category.
- Nominations that don’t supply relevant evidence for each criterion will likely receive lower scores. Please take the time to familarise yourself with the criteria:
- Photos and videos supplied as part of your nomination may be used during the Awards presentation dinner and in Recreation Aotearoa marketing, including our website, social media channels, and media.
- Please provide clear, well-lit images, taken in a mix of landscape (horizontal) and portrait (vertical) orientation. Avoid blurry photos, screenshots, or images with heavy filters.
- Winners are not notified before the Awards ceremony. We want to keep it a surprise. We encourage all nominees to attend the dinner.
- The Recreation Aotearoa judging panel reserves the right to move a nomination to a different category if they believe it is more appropriate.