Coaching Team

High Performance Coaching

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Andy Lobley : Head Coach : National & Senior Squad Coach

I have been coaching for Atlantis for a considerable time now. I am qualified to Senior Coach Level and I am Head Coach for the club.

As Head Coach and a Team Manager for the club I coordinate and timetable Open Meets, Swimming Camps and squad training sessions. I have to say being a part of Atlantis is very rewarding and we have a great bunch of swimmers here.

My love of sport in general comes from a background of competitive competition and swimming has been my main focus since 2010, having decided that Age Group Triathlons had run there course with me. These days my swimming is limited to the odd open water swim and the rest is  thankfully from the side. (although I am still pretty high up on the rankings for 50 breast!)

Swimming is a fantastic sport to be involved with and to see swimmers progress through their school and college times is very rewarding, especially as they all come out as very well rounded self-disciplined individuals.

 

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Becky Harrison : Lead Coach Regional Squad

I started swimming at Northgate Swimming Club at the age of 6 and swam for them for almost 20 years. The highlights of my swimming career were representing Division 6 at the English School Championships where I swam 200 IM against Zara Long (Coached by Bill!) and achieving regional qualifying times. I gave up swimming in 1994 when I started work but did have a brief spell swimming Masters for Crawley SC representing them at the National Masters in 1999.

I joined Atlantis as a parent in 2009 and was asked to help out with the Penguins and Seals (Foundation squad) on a Monday evening. Recently I have also taken on the Saturday morning session. I am an ASA Teacher and Assistant Coach. I have been teaching PE since 1994, and at St. Wilfrids in Crawley since 1996.

Swimming is a fantastic sport and I am delighted to be part of the Atlantis coaching team.

 

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Jane Holden : Lead Coach County Squad

Growing up in Africa with a pool around every corner it was inevitable I would be drawn to swimming.  I joined my local club at an early age and soon progressed to represent my province at a junior level in the nationals, then senior and eventually was immensely honoured to represent my country Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in butterfly, freestyle and individual medley. With the huge influence of my Dad, a water polo coach and support of my Mum my brother swam and played polo for the country too.

Whilst doing my nursing and midwifery training I continued to swim competitively when I could (often open water) and taught swimming along the way. I also took up scuba diving. I eventually moved to the UK in 2001 and took the ASA Level 1 swimming teaching course here.

I think swimming is a unique sport. Long hours in the pool lead to close lifelong friendships. The dedication needed to be successful instils an invaluable life/work ethic. It fosters good sportsmanship, learning how to deal with the highs of winning but also disappointments. For these reasons I encouraged my son Cameron to join Atlantis in 2011 and before long I was drawn poolside to help. Initially with Foundation Squad, I now coach a wider range of abilities and enjoy every moment, from the delight when one of our beginners clicks with a stroke to the smiles when a swimmer achieves their target times. I find coaching a very fulfilling and rewarding role, love being part of a great coaching team and really look forward to the future with the club.

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Andrew Wilkie : Lead Coach Junior & Intermediate Squad 

First of all, I’m not related to David!

I began swimming aged 9 with Southgate Swimming Club in north London, coached by former world record holder Stella Woolhead (nee Mitchell), who came 4^th in the 200m breaststroke at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. I reached Southern Counties level, and I also played water polo at school, reaching the ESSA national schools final on one occasion. (We were beaten by King’s School Grantham, who still win it every year!)

I continued swimming in the public lanes until 2010 when I joined the Atlantis Masters squad where I train several times a week. I was the 2016 South East Masters 100m butterfly champion for my age group – I also picked up two silvers and a bronze at the meet.

I’m early stages in my coaching career but I hope to develop my coaching over the coming years under the guidance of the fantastic coaching team at Atlantis. It’s a really wonderful sport and has given me a huge amount of enjoyment over many years.

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Nick Issacson: Lead Coach Foundation Squads

"Just like the rest of the team here at Atlantis SC swimming is a massive part of my life. Along with my role as lead foundation coach here I also work as a swimming teacher at various sites across Sussex and a swimming coordinator at Billingshurst leisure centre. I'm very passionate about passing on my love of swimming and 2018 I was nominated for the Swim England South East teacher of the year award.

I am a big believer in practicing what you preach and compete regularly at various competitions achieving medals at National level in both the National Masters Championships and National Open Water Championships. I have also got podium finishes at some of the biggest long distance open water swim events in the UK and Europe such as the Dark 10k, Thames Marathon Swim and Best Fest Open water festival. Along with swimming I also compete as part of the Team GB age group triathlon team collecting two gold medals in Canada and Denmark in the ITU Multisport World Championships. In September 2020 I will be attempting to break the record for fastest 2-person relay crossing of the English Channel with my girlfriend.

Although I love training and competing helping others achieve their goals in a sport I love is even better. Working as a swimming teacher there is a huge variety in the abilitys and ages I teach, from three year olds learning to love the water all the way up to eighty year olds swimming for health and fitness. My favourite level to work at is the group's I coach at Atlantis. My personal goal is to make sure all the swimmers who join our club have the best possible start into competitive swimming, learning skills that will not only make them stronger in the pool but help them in all other aspects of life too."

 

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Ross Drayton: Masters Squad Coach

Awaiting Profile

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Amanda Sawyer: Assistant Coach Foundation Squads

Awaiting Profile

 

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