Visit by Olympic Hero Nick Gillingham MBE

to Runnymede Swimming Club

Runnymede Swimming Club’s members were treated to a training session with Nick Gillingham MBE, Olympic Silver Medallist in the 200m Breaststroke from the Seoul games and Bronze from Barcelona.  The 2-times Olympic individual medallist travelled all the way from the Midlands as part of the Sporting Champions initiative, sponsored by Sport England, to deliver his master class to the club.  The Sporting Champions programme uses sports stars to inspire and motivate young people, and promotes the principle of increased participation in sport.  The 3-hour visit included a talk on Nick’s achievements in the pool, advice on competition swimming, the importance of involvement in sport for all, and his vision for the future of swimming.

 The highlight of the visit was a coaching session on breaststroke in the pool, where he showed the club some techniques to improve their strokes and treated them to a display of his own abilities.  Although Nick is now 37 years old, the former World, European and Commonwealth record holder showed that he is no slouch, and can still turn on the blistering speed that took him Olympic and World Championship honours in the late 80’s and early 90’s.  

Runnymede’s Head Coach Paul Eveleigh said, “Nick is one of British swimming’s heroes, and we were very pleased that he could come down to our club.  I know that all the club members will take inspiration from his time with us, and maybe one day one of them will go on and emulate Nick’s achievements.”  Before leaving for his long journey back home Nick signed autographs and posed for photographs with the youngsters as a memento of the day.

Nick Gillingham signs autographs for the Club members at the end of the session.