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                        2024 Koi Show Judges           

  Head Judge

      Duc Nguyen, ZNA US District Chairman/ZNA Americ a, ZNA Certified Judge (CJ)--Rocky Mountain ZNA (Denver)        

BACKGROUND:                                                                            

Duc started his journey in koi in 2004 when he built his first pond. He worked with several koi clubs working shows and holding office all while moving around the US and even to Japan. He was accepted into the ZNA judging program in 2012 and became a local certified judge in 2014.

While living in Japan for almost five years from 2014 until 2019 he was able to learn from observing and participating in various shows and seminars held throughout Japan. With his proximity to Japanese koi breeder, koi dealers, events and shows, this provided Duc with an opportunity to see many of the best koi and train his appreciation skills to achieve Assistant Certified Judge status in 2017 and then Full Certified Judge in 2019.

He has judged shows in the US, Thailand, Holland, France, Belgium, Australia, Malaysia and Japan. He was honored to be the first non Japanese to be appointed as head judge of a show in Japan. Currently, Duc serves as ZNA US District Chairman and one of three non Japanese certified ZNA seminar instructors. This is his second time on the judging team at Orlando.                                               

He is equally excited to reunite with and meet new Koi Kichi friends! 

 

             

      Mike Frady, ZNA Certified Judge (CJ)--Potomac ZNA (DC area) & Emeritus CJ, AKJA

BACKGROUND:                                                                            

I have been in the hobby since 1995 when we built our first pond.  The first attempt was a pre-molded plastic pond which we put in as a water garden.  This led to three subsequent versions, each gaining in size and complexity.  The current pond is divided into a 7500 main koi pond and a 1500 waterlily and goldfish/tosai pond.    I am a member of the ZNA Potomac Chapter (2002) and served as Club President from 2006 through 2016. I am currently the Vice President for Programs. I have served as Co or Show Chair of ZNA Potomac since 2007. 

I am a ZNA Certified Judge.  I was approved for entry into the program in 2011 and was certified as an Assistant Certified Judge in Japan in 2017 and a Certified Judge in 2024.  I have previous experience as an AKCA Judge having participated as an applicant in 2007 and being accepted as a Candidate in 2008.

 I am currently a retired Emeritus Certified Judge in the American Koi Judges of America group, where I served as Chairman of the Judging Committee that oversees the group in 2017-2018.  I have judged at shows all across the US, Canada, Europe, and South Africa.   I have won numerous awards with my koi to include multiple Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion awards.                        I own KEBE Honey & Bees and live in the Mt. Vernon area of Virginia.

 

    Gerald Ellison, ZNA Candidate Judge--SoCal ZNA (San Diego), AKJA Certified Koi Judge

BACKGROUND:                                                                            

Born in Japan and grew up in Taiwan before moving to the Virginia and Maryland areas.  Gerald has always had an affinity towards Koi since seeing them while living in Japan.  When Gerald had an opportunity to finally build his first pond in 2014, he seized the opportunity and thus his Koi hobbyist journey began.  Incorporating many learned lessons, Gerald has built his second pond leveraging modern mechanical and bio filters combined with a trickle shower servicing a 3000+ gallon pond.  This has allowed him to enjoy the experiences of Koi development and growth further.  

Gerald is constantly amazed at how many great people he meets through this hobby and is always aiming to pay it forward to help the next generation of Koi enthusiasts.  This is one of the main reasons why he contributes to this hobby as a Koi judge that focuses on education and advocacy for Koi keeping.  

He is a technologist by profession and is constantly fascinated with new technologies that enhance our lives.  He believes leveraging emerging technologies will be key to retaining current Koi hobbyists and introducing to new hobbyists on Koi keeping simpler, faster, and easier.  Creator of GKoi channel on Facebook, Gerald aims to provide the Koi community with simple and intuitive videos on appreciation of Koi.

 

 

 

 

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