Swimming coach hopes to make a splash in Kenya
Reporter: JANICE BARKER
Date published: 16 November 2009
An Oldham swimming coach is taking the plunge into a new career training the Olympic medallists of the future in Kenya.
John Wroe is aiming high with his new job as head coach at the Aqua Kenya Swimming Club in Nairobi, which aims to produce national and international athletes for the east African country.
John, from Moorside, is currently head coach for Oldham Aquatics’ advanced training squad, based at Oldham Sports Centre, and also head coach for Oldham Amateur Swimming club.
After leaving Oldham Sixth-Form College in 1994, and taking his degree in leisure studies and MSc in the sociology of sport, he returned to his home town in 2002.
And his successful coaching has produced swimmers at British championship level. He has also trained three of Oldham’s Olympic swimming hopefuls, Blake Wilson, Jessica Lloyd and Vicki Garlick, who are aiming for London 2012.
But in December he will swop Oldham’s winter skies for sunny Kenya, and the outdoor pools in the capital, Nairobi.
He will also aim to train more coaches and encourage more children to take up swimming.
John said: “Aqua Kenya is a new high-performance club, and the aim is to produce a national squad, and eventually Olympians.
“I hope to replicate the work done in Oldham, and hopefully go a step further.
“Kenya already has swimmers taking part in international competitions — the club chairman’s daughter trains at Plymouth in England and two others train in America — and there were Olympic finalists in Beijing last year.
“I will be looking at the Commonwealth Games 2014 in Scotland, and the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.”
John flies out later this month and starts his new job on December 1.
And he will not arrive empty-handed — one of his final nights training his Oldham students became a fun splash session which raised £120 for the Lavington Primary School, in Nairobi, where one of the swimming pools is based.
The money will be used to sponsor uniforms, school fees and meals for the neediest pupils.
