Wycombe District Swimming Club Coaches
Head Coach
Kevin Brooks
Kevin, our Head Coach at Wycombe District has a wealth of experience and has coached swimmers to British & English National Medals & Finals, the European Junior Championships, the European Senior (Short & Long) Championships, the World (Short & Long) Championships and the 2012 Olympic Games.
Kevin has been coaching since 1998 (when he was 17) and coached his first group of National level swimmers when he was 18 years old. Since this time he has produced National Swimmers, over all age groups (including seniors), every year to date. Since 2002 Kevin has been working with, and producing, International level swimmers and medallists, with the highest achievement in 2012 when sprinter Craig Gibbons represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympic Games.
Kevin has also been a coach on Great Britain Junior & Senior teams on over 15 occasions; one of the highest profiles was his selection as Head Coach to the GB European Junior (Female) Team 2018. Since 2004 he has personally coached swimmers onto 20 Great Britain International Teams at Junior and Senior Level, 4 British records and selections covering all strokes and specialisms (Sprinters, Middles Distance and Distance swimmers - a complete range of athlete.)
Kevin started at WDSC in September 2012, post the Olympic Games, ready for a new challenge. Since Kevin's appointment he has developed all aspects of the club and has more than tripled the size of the membership. Kevin, with support from his coaching team, have driven the club to historic highs and in 2015 the club produced outstanding results throughout the year with the WDSC becoming the 10th Top Club in the UK at the British Summer Championship. In 2017 The club had 3 Junior Internationals with 5 International medals achieved by two of those, in that summer. In 2018 the club came 4th at the Arena National Cup Final and was the Top Club at the National Open Water Championships. Kevin led the club in 2018 to become 1 of 5 Swim England Performance Centres - a huge testament to the journey our club has been on, considering it was the lowest ranking club at the Berks & South Bucks County Championships in 2012.
For the last 3 years the club has regularly sent over 40 swimmers to the Summer Nationals and in 2019 the club had 20 Relay Teams Qualify for the British Summer Championships - 5 more than any other programme.
Kevin also sits on the South East Regional Coaches Panel as one of the longest serving members and is also the Souths coaching rep with the British Swimming Coaches Association; where he also features in the BSCA's Olympic Coach Hall of Fame. He represents the South East Forum at the England Pathway Implementation Group and in 2017 he was appointed as a Swim England Coach Advisor; a role designed to mentor coaches in the Region that are working on the Swim England Coach pathway. He has also presented at National and Regional Conferences on various topics.
Kevin holds the ASA Coach qualification (L4), a degree in Sports Development & Coaching Sciences and also the recently launched, British Swimming Open Water Coach' qualification (L2).
Head of Athletic Development
Gemma Hathaway
Gemma, our Head of Athletic Development & Physical Preparation has been at the club since February 2018 and her impact has been incredible. Through working alongside the 'swimming' coaching team on a daily basis she has been able to implement a comprehensive programme of 'land based' training, injury risk reduction and strength & conditioning.
In Gemma's role you will regulary see her at competitions prepping our athletes to a timeline which will enable our swimmers to be fully ready to race! In her role she also monitors our Performance athletes for Height, Weight, Body Composition and Wellness as all these areas are key to understanding each athlete and getting the most out of their journey in swimming.
Gemma is a UKSCA accredited strength and conditioning coach and has worked in High Performance Tennis, before starting at WDSC. Gemma holds a Degree in Sports and Exercise Science and a Masters Degree in Exercise Physiology.
In addition to her coaching, Gemma is a very succesful and keen GB Age Group Triathlete; with highlights being events such as the ITU European Championships. She is going to the Worlds this year (2019).
After a year into her role at WDSC, Gemma is becoming increasingly sort after with selections to coach at County, Regional and National Development Camps, in the role of S&C Coach.
In addition to this, she has been asked (along with our Head Coach) to help Swim England develop a new Level 2 & 3 qualifiaction for Land Based training in swimming, for pool coaches.
For the 2019/2020 season Gemma has been selected by Swim England as an S&C Coach for the Swim England Junior Team's International Competition in February.
Gemma is keen to develop other aspiring S&C coaches and now runs a student placement programme here at the club, providing mentoring and an opportunity to gain applied practical experience.
Head Age Group Coach
Joe Evans
In his role, Joe leads the Junior Performance Squad and is the main assistant coach to Kevin and Josh in the Senior and Intermediate Performance programme. He heads up our Age Group programme which consists of the JP Squad, Junior Competitive & Potential Squads. Joe has had a great start in coaching having held junior coaching positions at the City of Cardiff and City of Coventry Swimming Clubs. He is currently the lead coach to the Junior Performance squad at Coventry and has achieved great successes over the last year. With a degree in Sports Coaching and holding his Level 2 in Coaching, he comes to WDSC with a great foundation, ready to take lead of two key foundation squads at our club. Joe has also a National level swimmer, having competed for Stratford Sharks and the City of Cardiff, where his main events were the 200 and 400 Free.
Joe is currently on the 2019/2020 cohort of approved coaches to undertake his Senior Coach Certificate (Level 3) and he was recently selected as a coach on the Swim England National Development Programme - Regional Camps.
Head of Competitive & Development
David Gee
David, our Head of Competitive & Development has been in his role since 2016; and prior to this he was the Head Coach at Chesham Swimming Club.
As a level 3 Coach, David has coached swimmers to English Summer Meet Gold Medals and regulary sends multiple swimmers to Regionals, every year.
He has a Masters Degree in Sport & Exercise Science and also regualry competes as a Master swimmer!
David works very closely with Kevin, our Head Coach, in planning for the development of the club and particualry Jordan, our Lead Junior Coach, where they both work on the progresion and development of our Competitive Section.
In 2019/2020 Dave was selected as a coach on the Swim England National Para-Swimming Academy Talent Camps.
Head of Academy
(& coaches the Godstowe School Swim Team)
Nicky Matthews
Nicky, our Head of Academy, is an experienced swimming coach who is qualifed as a Level 2 Coach.
She has been coaching at WDSC for over a decade and has always loved working with our clubs younger swimmers.
In her role, she leads a large team of committed lead coaches and volunteer assistant coaches who are all involved in coaching the various Academy & Stroke Improver Squads. This role also extends to our Academy section at Risborough Springs, Princes Risborough.
Nicky works closely with Kieran, Joe, Dave and Kevin on the development of the Academy programme at Wycombe and is also often found at various club galas, the MK Junior League and our prestigious "home" meets.
in a seperate role, Nicky is 'one half' of our clubs admin team - SwimAdmin She is also one of our experienced Team Managers and attends the offshore Performance Swim Camp annually, working alongside Kevin, our Head Coach, in looking after 50 swimmers!
From September 2019 Nicky started supporting Godstowe School with the coaching of the Godstowe Girls School Swim Team. In her role she works with the Godstowe School Head of Swimming and Director of Sport to support the coaching of their swimming programme at their stunning 4x25m new school pool. Girls based at the School will also have the oppourtunity to progress from the school team, into the WDSC Squads, when ready and if desired.
Head of Disability & Lead Development Coach
Patrick Ahern
Patrick is Wycombe Swimming’s Head of Disability, and Lead Masters and Development Coach.
Patrick is a qualified Level 3 Coach, and has coached all ages and abilities from novices through to national level swimmers. He has a particular interest in technique and stroke mechanics, and an eye for detail which benefits the WDSC swimmers.
As head of diisability, Patrick has built a squad of swimmers that compete regularly at various levels from novice up to international level. With the help of numerous, dedicated assistants the squad has grown over the last three years and continues to expand and improve.
Patrick delivers focused technique and speed-based sessions, as lead masters coach. He also covers open water skills for WDSC triathletes and multi-discipline athletes.
As well as holding a level 3 coaching qualification, Patrick has worked on delivering the level 3 programme to other candidates. In addition to holding a Level 2 open water swimming qualification, a level 2 teaching qualification and being a licenced athletics coach, he has many disability sport qualifications.
Patrick is also one of the few qualified coaches who also hold a licence as a British Swimming Referee.
Lead Competitive Coach
Oscar Kelly
In his role, Oscar leads the Junior Competitive Squad and supports the coaching of Youth Competitive and Potential 2 & 3. He supports Joe and Kieran in developing our Age Group programme at WDSC.
Oscar used to swim competitively at Maidenhead Marlins and has coached at Marlins, Swansea Aquatics and the City of Oxford. During his time in Swansea he also successfully completed his degree in BSc Sports & Exercise Science.
Within his role Oscar also supports the coaches in the Performance programme through assisting at various sessions; particulary with Intermdiate Performance.
Lead Junior (Potential) Coach
Kieran Trimmer
In his role, Kieran leads the clubs Junior Potential swimmers with specific responsibility for Potential 1 and the Platinum Academy. He also oversees Potential 2 & 3 alongside the Head Age Group Coach, and assists with various coaching sessions in the competitive and performance pathways.
Kieran has a 1st class degree in Sports Coaching from Southampton University and has over 4 years experience in swimming Teaching and Coaching. He is also a qualified Level 2 Swimming Coach.
Over his first year at WDSC he has coached on various County Development Camps.
Lead Senior Development Coach, Waterpolo Coach & Bucks Uni Senior Squad Coach
Jack Yates
Jack leads our Senior Development Squad and actitively assists our Head Competitive & Development Coach with the delivery of our Youth and Senior Competitive Squad sessions. He also leads the once weekly fitness session provided by WDSC for Bucks New University and is also our lead Waterpolo coach - a disipline that he has a huge passion for.
His enthusiasm and engagement with the swimmers makes him perfect for his role(s) and the swimmers enjoy his coaching.
Jack is an experienced Level 2 Swimming Coach and Waterpolo Coach and used to be a competitive swimmer at WDSC. Jack has also attended County Camps as a Coach and regulary attends Regional Coach Development Days to increase his CPD oppourtunities.
