Who’s who

Photo of Sam Ashfield
Sam Ashfield
Treasurer
Photo of Alex Cross
Alex Cross
Membership SecretarySocial / Fundraising Sub-Committee
Steve Cutler
Vice Chairman
Lyndsay Earp
Secretary
Photo of Jay Goodison
Jay Goodison
Committee Member – IT

My daughter (Pru) joined the club in May 2018 and absolutely loves her time training and competing with her new friends. Unfortunately for Pru, our family has very (very!) limited swimming knowledge!, however we do understand how much time and effort is needed from volunteer’s to help organise a large community sporting club, and as a technology geek I try to help out the only way I can… joining the committee to help with IT.

Photo of Sally Hunt
Sally Hunt
President

In case you were wondering where all the volunteers come from, just about every one of them starts out as a swimmer’s parent who feels they can help out in some way. That’s what happened to me, and the Presidents before me! I can remember it quite clearly, we moved to WSC from Pershore, when their pool closed, our eldest daughter was about 11 years old, I promised my husband that I wouldn’t get involved for at least a year… nine months later I was timekeeping and on the Committee… my husband then started coaching and WSC became our second home.

As a family we have gained a lot of friends through the swimming club and although neither of our daughters still swim competitively we are still very actively involved in the Club.

Photo of Kate Lloyd
Kate Lloyd
Junior Development Coach

I have been a member of Worcester Swimming Club since 2011 and I have been involved in swimming all my life, having grown up in a very successful swimming club in London. I love all aspects of the sport and I love to swim, still competing at masters level both in the pool and open water. I will always look for new ideas to enhance the swimmers’ experience and I am a strong believer in “enjoying the journey”.

Whilst my main role is with the junior section of the Club, I have also spent many years coaching our top athletes and continue to be involved in coaching or leading all squads. It’s particularly rewarding to be able to watch swimmers progress from the swim schools where I have worked, through to their first team competition and then onto County, Regional and National success.

I am a level 2 coach, level 2 open water coach, level 2 teacher and after many years of either coaching or observing on County, Regional and National level development camps have been selected as a skills coach by the Region for 2022/2023.

Photo of Lizzie Monkhouse
Lizzie Monkhouse
Teacher, Competitions Secretary, Club Records

I’ve been part of WSC for 20 years. The club took  both of my children from Pre-Comp to British Championships and they both swam through university and well into their twenties. I have been the competitions rep processing swimmers meet entries for many years and I am club records officer. I also maintain the County records for Worcester County. WSC has been a massive part of our family life with my husband also being a past chairman.

Photo of Helen Parker
Helen Parker
Volunteer Sub-Committee

Swimming Mum to Libby (13) and George (12) I have been associated with WSC for the last 5 years and I have gradually become more involved. Before Libby joined aged 7 I had not been involved in swimming at all. My swimming ability is “not drowning” or “Granny breaststroke”. I am qualified to J1 although you will rarely see me in whites now as I am normally sat on the technical table, helping to run competitions.

Photo of John Pridden
John Pridden
ChairmanVolunteer Sub-Committee

Swimming and water polo has been a part of my life from a very young age, whether competing, coaching or officiating it has always been there. I was at my previous club for approximately 23 years, before I arrived at Worcester SC in 2014. The attributes required to be a swimmer, build skills way past the pool and give a sense of belonging where you learn to overcome disappointment and celebrate milestones all of the way whether, diving for the first time, hitting the times on a hard set, Swimming a PB or gaining a County/Midland or national time.

The club has helped me gain a wealth of experience where I have now achieved my level 2 coaching qualification, my disability awareness certificate of officiating and I extended my knowledge of the rules by becoming a Referee.

 

Photo of Lucy Sadler
Lucy Sadler
Club Captain 2020-2021

At the age of 13, I joined Worcester having spent 6 years at my previous club, Halesowen, but I have been swimming since I was three. I started in the Age Group Potential squad and spent two years learning the skills and drills I required to improve my performance, making many new friends and I was really pleased when I was finally chosen to move up into Seniors/Performance.

Whilst in AGP, I volunteered and helped to teach/coach some of the younger swimmers in Skill Development on a Friday evening until I moved to performance, which obviously required me to train on a Friday night. I really enjoy coaching and supporting the younger swimmers to develop and transfer the skills I have learnt from the coaches to them and also see their progression. In addition, when I can, I take up the opportunity to help out on poolside at the Junior and PGL league to support the swimmers.

Throughout my swim career, I have swam in all leagues from PGL, Mercian with Worcester Winter League, Junior League, and the National League at a previous club as a junior. My most enjoyable experience was being captain at the PGL league final and when the final girls relay won by half a length. I love to compete at open meets and counties and the opportunity to swim in open water last year, which I had hoped to continue this year.

In Swimming, I’ve learnt no matter how hard we work individually, in training or as part of the larger team in competition, this sport requires dedication, resilience and patience to achieve the best we can. These kind of things are so important to me and I want to help younger swimmers to learn how to deal with the disappointments as well as the good and offer personal experience on how I deal. After undertaking the online part of the Assistant Swimming Coach course earlier this year, I am excited to transfer any skills I learn from the rest of this course to younger swimmers in order to develop their performance and mine too. Swimming at this club and in total has not only improved my skills and times but also my mental well-being too.

I am enormously proud and thankful to be part of this club and I am so excited for the future as club captain.

Photo of Mark Stowe
Mark Stowe
Head Coach

I learned to swim at age 8 and proved “a natural”, soon swimming competitively in Diddy League for Stratford-upon-Avon. I was pretty successful as a junior, winning County titles and achieving National qualifying times though I struggled a bit through my teenage years, balancing school work and training commitments.

Whilst I swam for three Counties (Warwickshire, Somerset and Wiltshire) my proudest achievements came when I was at the University of Bath where I earned a Full Blue for Swimming, and an Honorary Blue for Contribution to University Sport as the Athletic Union President. I was selected several times for British Universities and represented England students in the home nations gala against Scotland, Ireland & Wales…where incredibly I swam the 200m Butterfly, not my favourite event, I was much more of a 50/100m swimmer!

I quickly fell into coaching when I left University and enjoyed success as Head Coach at Melksham and then Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire either side of a spell at Worcester when I moved briefly to the area with work in the 1990s. I fell in love with the Club then, encouraged by the likes of Andy MacBeth and Malcolm Latta so it was natural that when I returned to Worcester in 2003, I would want to get involved, initially as a volunteer assistant coach and then in 2008, leaving my “proper” job with Lloyds TSB behind, as the Club’s first ever full time Head Coach

To my mind, we blend competitive success and a community / family oriented ethos brilliantly, and it is my absolute privilege to be Head Coach.  I have no desire to pursue a wider coaching career, I bleed Blue & Green, all I want is for each and every swimmer here to have the opportunity to achieve their potential in a long-term athlete development programme that is fun but challenging

On the back of the first class pool time and coaching resources we have in Worcester, the Club has enjoyed remarkable success in recent years, most notably the incredible medal winning performances of Paralympian Becky Redfern plus at a team level, two National Arena League Finals in 2017 and 2018, wow!

We are one of the most successful Club programmes in the West Midlands and I believe wholeheartedly that our swimmers will continue to do amazing things.  I am constantly inspired by their talent, commitment and work ethic…without doubt, I have the best “job” in the World!

Favourite stroke
To swim – Butterfly, it feels so good…until the wheels come off!?!
To coach – Breaststroke, highly technical with lots of different styles

 

Favourite training set
For endurance:

10 x 100, 1 x 125, 1 x 75
8 x 100, 1 x 125, 1 x 75
6 x 100, 1 x 125, 1 x 75
4 x 100, 1 x 125, 1 x 75
2 x 100, 1 x 125, 1 x 75
* all F/C with 100/125/75 all off the same turnaround times
* 100’s at Threshold pace, 125’s max, 75’s recovery
* total 4K

For race pace:
4×50/2×25/3×50/4×25/2×50/6×25/1×50/8×25 all best effort No.1 Stroke from a dive (£1K lactate production or aka “pip squeak”!”)

 

3 things you couldn’t do without
1. Pizza
2. Red wine
3. Nysha (not necessarily in that order though!?!)

 

If you won the lottery what would you do?
I would still coach…working with the team of athletes and coaches that I do on a day in day out basis is so rewarding…but I would take a few more holidays as I love to travel, and there is so much of this wonderful world we live on that I haven’t seen yet.

 

 

Photo of Izzy Trow
Izzy Trow
Club Captain 2020-2021
My name is Izzy Trow and I have been swimming with Worcester Swimming Club for 7 years. I started swimming in Skill Progression and now swim in Performance, having worked my way up through the other squads.
For as long as I can remember, swimming has been a very important part of my life. I will be forever grateful to the coaches, swimmers and volunteers who have made my time at Worcester so enjoyable.
For the past few years I have really enjoyed helping coach the Skill Development squad on Friday nights. It has been great to contribute to swimmers’ development, but I have especially found it rewarding to watch the swimmers have fun and form new friendships. It has been really nice to get to know lots of new swimmers and I am looking forward to getting back to it once the pandemic is over.
Worcester Swimming Club has given me many opportunities to try new things, such as open water swimming. It was nice to mix with other squads and experience a different aspect of swimming.
For me, swimming is not always all about winning everything but rather being part of a big family; a family that supports each other through all the ‘ups and downs’. My main aim as Club Captain is to encourage swimmers of all ages to be the best version of themselves; never giving up and persevering with their goals. Whether competing at team galas, or regional competitions, the support of the Worcester Swimming Club community has always lifted my spirit and made me more determined. Now, more than ever, I think it is important to continue this community spirit and come together as a family.
As club captain, I hope that swimmers see me as friendly and approachable, and someone they can chat with at any time. I am very proud to represent such a great group of swimmers, and a club, which has been so important and beneficial to me over the years.
Sarah Walters
Renewals Secretary
Hayley West
Workforce Coordinator