Star pupils are off to Tokyo

Oldbury’s Alice Dearing yesterday became the first black woman from the UK to be selected in swimming for an Olympic Games.

That followed Matt Richards’ qualification for the Games, which he secured in April in the 100m and 200m freestyle.

The pair, who were boarding students at the school, honed their skills on the prestigious swimming programme at The Royal, where they rose through the ranks of the junior squads and into the elite squad.

“It’s a massively proud moment for us,” said head performance coach Marc Spackman. “We have many swimmers that look up to the results that they have both gained recently. We’re all very proud of them.

“Creating an environment and strong culture within our programme and school is vital to inspiring the next generation.

“We try to do that as much as possible and ensure all the students that access the programme are able to see that and feel as though it’s a tangible thing.

“They were small children coming into our programme and they weren’t signposted as Olympians at that point. They looked at the environment around them, they were given their feedback and they developed within our programme. They were inspired.

“Part of being a good coach is conveying the message to people that they can do anything they put their mind to. That’s the process we go through day in, day out.”

Following that success, the school are now looking at developing the next generation of Olympians.

They are running free skills camps on the programme for youngsters to learn the trade, which run alongside trials for those aiming to take a spot on the programme.

“We actively try to encourage young swimmers to come into our programme, from all different kinds of backgrounds,” Spackman added. “We have swimmers go through our programme and receive full scholarships for American universities. We have swimmers that go onto high performance training programmes around the UK and world, and we really put a lot of stock into developing the athletes beyond their time here on the programme.

“We’re running free skills camps, so any swimmer can access this. They can get in touch and come down and learn how to do the different strokes. The different skills in terms of turns and starts too.

“We’re looking for swimmers who are inspired and want to be the best. So far we’ve had 50 swimmers come through our camps. They run on a Monday evening and we have ongoing trials for young swimmers who have a dream to be better and be in competitive swimming.

“That’s what it’s all about. Our job is aimed at helping athletes achieve these lovely goals and it’s great to see swimmers thrive in our programme.”

Those interested in the skills camps or trialling for the squad can contact the club by visiting: www.rwssc.co.uk/contact-us.