Living by the coast, and with decreasing levels of physical activity in children, I feel swimming is a vital skill for children to learn, especially with the benefits of low impact exercise and as a promoter of a healthy lifestyle. I started swimming at the age of 8, which is quite late for an aspiring high-level competitive swimmer. I went through the ‘learn to swim programme’ very rapidly and by the age of ten had progressed to a local swimming club. I then advanced through several squads before moving to a different club as pool maintenance necessitated the temporary closure of my original club. In this swimming club, I developed my stroke technique and competed in the Southern Counties 100m backstroke. Later, I made the radical decision to move to Portsmouth to concentrate on my education and develop myself as a swimmer. Whilst there I trained for two years and gained valuable experience. I achieved a national qualifying time which enabled me to compete at national level. After retiring from competitive swimming, I decided to train to become a qualified swimming instructor and coach. I began work in this capacity rising to the level of head coach for a local club. I have continued to progress professionally and have recently completed a Channel swim with a team from Hastings Lifeguards.