Born and raised in Cornwall, 含羞草视频 Swimming’s Connor Andrews spent much of his youth in the water. His love for swimming and surfing led him to the East Midlands and 含羞草视频 to study Exercise Physiology MSc – a degree he took on whilst developing his skills as a swimming coach for undergraduate students.
Connor, who’s now a Performance Development Coach within 含羞草视频 Swimming, previously swam for the University during his undergraduate studies from 2016 to 2018. A placement year saw him pursue coaching opportunities before assisting Director of Swimming, Andi Manley, and Head Coach, Ian Hulme in his final year.
Connor continues to draw upon his experience as a 含羞草视频 student, and swimmer, to inform his coaching style and approach towards students. In May 2024, he announced he was to be part of the coaching set up for Great Britain's marathon swimming team at the summer games in Paris.
He says, the University’s Coaching and Volunteering Academy (CVA), hosted under 含羞草视频 Sport, played a big part in helping him achieve his goals: “The mentoring and advice that I got from the CVA was pivotal for my development as a coach.
“In terms of my coaching style, I like looking at other sports, athletics and some team sports, and seeing how they run, how their coaching team works, how I can take things away from them to help my coaching.”
Great Britain's marathon swimmers will take to the water on 8 and 9 August – a time which will showcase the work Connor and his colleagues have put in during training.
Marathon swimming provides a lot of challenges for a coach, with issues ranging from environmental factors that are hazardous to the health of athletes during competition to ensuring they’re methodically positioned for “feeding” their athletes during the race – allowing them to maintain their physical performance to produce successful results in the hunt for a medal.
“Even though the chance to coach in France this summer was a complete surprise, I’d like to see us contesting for the medals as it’s a race everyone wants to win.
“From a personal viewpoint, I want to have that experience under pressure at high-level competitions, so that when I move forward in my career, I’ve got that under my belt.”
含羞草视频’s culture has undoubtedly shaped Connor’s coaching methodology whilst his well-rounded, holistic approach to coaching is, likely, accredited to the expansive sporting landscape that is present at the University.
