Swimming coaches named on prestigious UK Sport coach-development programme

Swim England has welcomed the ‘fantastic’ news that swimming coaches have been selected for the newly-launched UK Sport High-Performance Coach Apprenticeship (HiCAP) programme.

The programme is aimed at coaches who are transitioning into high-performance environments and have high potential in their respective sports.

An initial cohort of 26 coaches has been formed, with Newcastle Swim Team head coach Ryan Livingstone and Director of Swimming at Plymouth College, Robin Armayan named in the group.

Lindsay Trimmings, Swim England coach development manager, said of the appointments: “We are really excited to have had both Robin and Ryan recruited to UK Sport’s first HiCAP programme.

“Both coaches have done a fantastic job in developing successful youth and senior athletes onto international teams from their respective club programmes over the past few years.

“The learning from this programme will fit seamlessly alongside our Swim England Coach Development offer to support both coaches to transition into the high-performance coaching space.”

‘Honoured’

Both coaches expressed how ‘honoured’ they felt after receiving news of their selection. Robin commented: “I’m honoured to have been selected as this is a great opportunity to learn from great coaches and UK Coaching mentors. I really look forward to learning more and developing myself further.

“It’ll be great to see how coaches from other sports other than swimming interact with the athletes in their environment. I’m sure they’ll have a different perspective on certain things and I think this will help me in the future.

“I also look forward to connecting further with my mentor. From past experiences with UK Coaching programmes, having someone to share my experience, thoughts and analysis with is very helpful and beneficial to me”, he added.

Additionally, Robin praised the standard of coach development courses in Great Britain, saying: “I truly believe that UK Sport/Coaching, British Swimming and Swim England are at the forefront of coaches development and are among world leaders in this particular area.

“The number of programmes, workshops, conferences and training camps available nowadays to the coaches as well as the quality of the events proposed is without a doubt a factor that contributes to Great Britain doing so well at major international competitions across so many different sports.”

‘Grateful’

Ryan Livingstone spoke of his gratitude upon hearing the positive news, saying: “I’m very pleased and honoured to be selected for such a prestigious programme. I’m looking forward to the next year and I’m grateful for those who supported me with my application, specifically Lindsay Trimmings and Dawn Peart.

When asked what part of the practical delivery he is most looking forward to, he responded: “I’m looking forward to the formal content delivery as I will be learning from some of leading coach-developers and practitioners in the field.

“I am also looking foreward to the opportunity to meet and learn from a range of coaches working across different sports as a very high level.

“I believe that this multi-sport approach will expose me to different perspectives and experiences that I can draw from and subsequently apply in my own practice. I’m confident that this will be a challenging and very rewarding experience.”

Speaking on the wider importance of programmes such as this one within the sporting community, Ryan said: “Coach-development programmes are vital for the improvement of coaches at every level as this leads to improved coaching delivery and learning environments for our athletes.

“I have been very well supported previously by the Northumberland & Durham County Association, Swim England and British Swimming in my own development.

“This programme in particular from UK Sport will allow me to further develop and after only a short period on the programme I have already gained a great deal.”