When he was told he would be awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia, David Swan figured it had to be a scam.
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The Mt Ousley man has spent years volunteering his time with Football South Coast, Corrimal Swim Club and the Disabled Surfers Association.
His father Barry had received an OAM in 2019 for his services to the mining industry, and Mr Swan thought someone had read about that and decided to play a trick on him.
"It was right around when all those scams were going on," Mr Swan said,
"So I rang and I was a little bit abrupt with them. And she goes 'no, it's legitimate, David. This is government house you've rung' and I just felt terrible."
The woman from Government House also told him not to worry; he wasn't the only person to think it was a scam.
His honour is very real; his medal comes after decades of volunteering time to various local sporting groups.
"We left Pleasant Heights school one Friday afternoon 27 years ago - we walked into Corrimal Swimming Club, and I'm still there on a Friday night doing whatever they want," he said.
The drive to give his time - all of it unpaid - to local sporting groups came from his parents' lesson that they had done the same for him growing up. It was time to pay it forward.
"When the three boys started playing soccer and swimming in things like that, mum and dad and [wife] Sue's parents always said to us it's your time to give back," he said.
"You got looked after well - I was an ex-soccer player, tennis player and all that sort of stuff. I thought, 'you know, they're right. It's not a babysitter service'. So we put out toes in the water and did little bits and then it grew from there.
"We got to see all three of our boys participate in sport at a high level. We were right up front watching them do everything. Someone said 'that's a memory you'll never lose' and they're right. Now the kids often say to us 'no matter what it was, we always looked up and you and mum were always there'."
Now, two of his sons have children, and they're following in their parents' footsteps.
"They're putting back in, so it's kind of like a circle," he said.
"I can step back a little bit and watch and let them take over. I won't walk away from it but it's now their time to put back because they were given a lot, from the swimming club especially."
Once he realised the news of his OAM wasn't a scam, Mr Swan said it has put a smile on his face every time he thought about it.
"I'm about to experience the same thing as my father. He got his a couple of years ago - my old man's only five-foot-five tall and he was nine-foot tall that day," Mr Swan said.
"He was as proud as punch, we all were. So I'm looking forward to that day as well."
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Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
