The Scot is already the chairman of British Performance Basketball, the specialist company set up to manage the GB teams in preparation for the London Olympic Games. 

 

The move, done in co-operation with National Lottery distributor UK Sport, has been a major success with the men's team led by Chicago Bull superstar qualifying for the 2009 European Championships in Poland, the first time they have reached that stage for 28 years.

 

It is just one of a number of major roles that Gray, the founder and managing director of Genesis, a strategic consulting company, has had in British sport, including undertaking major reviews of several governing bodies.

 

The reviews include those carried out for the Football Association, the Lawn Tennis Association, the Scottish Rugby Union, the Irish Rugby Football Union and Rugby Football League.

 

He also reviewed Irish football after the public quarrel between Republic of Ireland captain Roy Keane and manager Mick McCarthy in the warm up to the 2002 World Cup, and has conrtinued to work with the sport as it has modernised since that review.

 

Gray is also a director of the Winning Scotland Foundation, set up to be a catalyst to create a culture of winning in Scotland. 

 

He is an executive member of the European Hockey Federation and a former chairman and president of honour of the Scottish Hockey Union. 

 

Gray said: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with British Swimming at this time in its life, especially with the imminent prospect of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

 

"The sport has performed well in recent years, in and out of the water.

 

“I look forward to working with my new colleagues on the board and our executives to make Swimming even more successful in the future.

 

"I hope my style and experience will add to the considerable capabilities of the people in the sport.”

 

Other major development initiatives include those with Scottish Swimming, England Netball and Scottish Golf.

 

Maureen Campbell, the chair of Scottish Swimming and the Scottish representative on the British Swimming Board, said: “Scottish Swimming is delighted to have Alistair join the board of British Swimming.

 

"He has already made a significant contribution to the high performance sport agenda in Scotland though his work at the Scottish Institute of Sport.

 

“He has an excellent ability to bring focus and clarity to complex challenges.

 

"We are confident he will make an equally valuable contribution to the development of British Swimming and wish him every success in his new role.”

 

Gray has also worked extensively in international management with Unilever and the John Wood Group PLC.

 

He has 26 years experience in strategic consulting internationally and is a former non-executive director of Highland Distillers plc, AorTech International Plc and is currently on the strategy committee of two other PLCs.

 

He was recently appointed an honorary professor in Sport Studies at the University of Stirling and is also a visiting professor at Macquarie University in Sydney, participating on their International Masters Programme.