A life for design - Sheffield Hallam University

16
Review
People
The Olympic planner taking
inspiration from Sheffield
The woman behind many of the London 2012 Olympic venues, as
well as Sheffield’s regeneration, came to the University to share
her experiences at an ‘in conversation’ event.
Alison Nimmo, CBE, a key
figure in making the Olympics
happen, made a welcome
return to Sheffield at the end of
2011 to speak about her role in the
planning, design and development
of many of the key Olympic and
Paralympic venues, including the
award-winning velodrome.
She also spoke about the challenge
of redeveloping a huge postindustrial
area of east London into a
sustainable new piece of city fit for
the 21st Century.
“The first big challenge was to
remediate the polluted soil, clean up
six kilometres of rivers and create
a brand-new 100 hectare park,
reintroducing ecology and creating
a whole new infrastructure for the
Games and legacy,” she said.
Having played a significant part in
the regeneration of Manchester in the
late 1990s and Sheffield from 2000,
Alison talked fondly of her time in
the city as head of Sheffield One - the
Urban Regeneration Company tasked
with redeveloping the city centre.
The vision for this was, in her words,
to “breathe new life into the city’s
fantastic civic spaces and buildings.”
On returning to the city, Alison said:
“I feel very proud to have played a
role…Sheffield’s a very special city.
When I come back and visit now
it feels like a very different place
compared to the city I came to in
2000. But cities are very organic
things, they change and develop over
time, and the job of regenerating is
never finished.”
Alison has just finished her tenure as
director of design and regeneration
for the Olympic Delivery Authority
(ODA), to begin a new role as the Chief
Executive of The Crown Estate.
The event was held as part of
Forgotten Spaces 2011: Sheffield.
Planning for the Olympics
“When I come back
and visit now it feels
like a very different
place compared to
the city I came to
in 2000. But cities
are very organic
things, they change
and develop over
time, and the job
of regenerating is
never finished.”
Alison Nimmo
17
Review
Aregular for his local team,
City of Sheffield Water Polo
Club, Brian has refereed a
variety of competitions abroad this
year, ranging from European Club
Champions Cup matches to the World
Student Games in Shenzhen, China.
The former Scotland and GB Water
Polo goalkeeper qualified as a
referee for the sport in 1997, gaining
the certificate needed to officiate
international games in 1999. Since
then, he’s refereed numerous
international matches, including at
the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008
and the 2006 Commonwealth Games
in Australia.
This year, although there will be
many British officials in attendance,
Brian is the only British water polo
referee appointed to London 2012,
and he will officiate at a number of
games in the run-up to the Olympics,
including the test event
in May.
“I would like to think that I have been
chosen as I have performed well in
the matches I have refereed over
the last few years,” Brian explains.
“In every international match the
referee’s performance and decisions
People Planning for the Olympics
The Sheffield Hallam man
making waves at London 2012
Although he spends many of his days co-ordinating
funding for research in the University’s Enterprise
Centre, Brian Littlejohn is as much at home in the
water as he is in the office. For there’s one thing that
Brian is just as passionate about as knowledge transfer
partnerships – the sport of water polo.
are assessed by a member of the
governing body and you receive
feedback at the end of each match.”
The Fédération Internationale
de Natation (FINA) is the world
governing body for aquatic sports.
FINA choose the referees from
their list of qualified officials, with
one referee from each country
represented at the water polo
competition as well as a number of
‘neutral referees’.
“I was appointed to Beijing 2008 as
a neutral because the British team
had not qualified,” he said. “But this
time, with the British team already
securing their place as hosts, I have
been selected as the British referee.
“There are currently over 250 referees
on the FINA list - Britain has five
referees on that list. Only the referees
on that list are qualified to referee
world standard events like world
championships and Olympics - and
I’ve been on that list representing
Great Britain since 2001.”
He said: “The test event is where the
governing bodies get to see the new
water polo facilities in action during
a competition. It will comprise of
teams from Great Britain, the United
States, Australia and Hungary –
some of the best teams in the world.
“There will also be a number of
other European championships
and continental qualification
tournaments still to play - so there’s
a good chance that I’ll be travelling a
lot in the next year.”
And what are the chances of a medal
for GB Water Polo in London? In
Brian’s opinion, they have their work
cut out for them - but it won’t lessen
the magic of being a part the biggest
sporting event in the world.
“It will be difficult for the British
teams to get a medal, but with the
improvements that both the men’s
and the women’s teams have made
over the past two years they should
be very competitive, and who
knows, may be able to pull off some
surprising results.”
“The added thrill
that comes from
these games being
in London and
being able to
represent your
country once
again on
home soil is a
tremendous boost.”
Brian Littlejohn