He Kāhu Kōrako | A hawk of faded feathers
Glenn Houlahan | The OG.
Ngāti Kahungungu, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Pukenga, Ngāi Te Rangi.
This April (2026) marks the 80th Birthday of a true Legend of CLM, Glenn Houlahan.
For over 20 years Glenn has been a regular fixture at the Whangārei Aquatic Centre; some might even affectionately consider him a ‘fixed asset’.
Originally hailing from the Hawkes Bay and of Ngāti Kahungungu, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Pukenga, and Ngāi Te Rangi descent, Glenn first joined the CLM team in 2003. Coming with a background in Aquatics via Australia Glenn has toiled away for years working with and supporting wave after wave of both customers and staff alike at the Whangārei Aquatic Centre.
For the majority of his time with the organisation, he has been in a yellow shirt as a Pool Supervisor. During this time, he has been named Whangārei Aquatic Centre Staff Member of the year on multiple occasions, most notably in 2015 where he celebrated this achievement in Nelson at the CLM Awards evening. In 2016 he was awarded the prestigious CLM Legend of the Year, and he is also a graduate of Kāhu Kōrako (CLM’s Māori Leadership Programme), firstly in the Tai Tokerau intake in 2020, and then in the National intake in 2024.
Although long past the normal retirement age Glenn still works full time as a supervisor, swims regularly every week, and is a constant source of motivation for young and old. We wish Glenn the very best for his big day and look forward to many more years of the inspiration that is Glenn in the future.
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