Alex Baumann is an Officer of the Order of Canada, appointee of the Order of Ontario, and member of the Canadian Sports and Canadian Amateur Sports Halls of Fame. He has an Honorary PhD in Physical Education (Laurentian University) and was World Male Swimmer of the Year twice (1981,1984). Alex swam at the 1984 Olympic Games, winning gold, and setting world-records for both the 200 and 400 metre individual medley races. He won five more gold, and two silver medals, at Commonwealth Games (1982,1986) and two gold, four silver, and six bronze at other Games: World University, Pan Pacific, and World Championship. In 1991, Alex pursued graduate studies at the University of Queensland, Australia, later working for the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) and the Queensland Government. From 1999, he was Chief Executive Officer of Queensland Swimming. From 2002, he was Executive Director of QAS, overseeing Athlete and Coach Support Services, Regional Services, and the Centre of Excellence for Applied Sport Science Research. He helped make sure Australian athletes had the best resources to attain optimum podium performance at Olympic and Paralympic Games. In 2007, Alex returned to Canada, becoming Executive Director of the Road to Excellence (RTE) program, now called Own the Podium (OTP). This program aims to re-establish Canada internationally as a leading sports nation with a top 12 finish at the Olympics and top eight finish at the Paralympics (London, 2012). In 2009, Alex became Chief Technical Officer, responsible for all OTP summer and winter technical programming.