Open Water Inspiration At Its Very Best!
20 Years Coaching Here In Perth To The Day!
Today marks my 20th anniversary of living here in Perth - I can't believe it! I've met some wonderful people from the swimming community and beyond in this time and have had the opportunity to coach many thousands of swimmers over this period (likely to the tune of 300,000 squad visits in that time and close to 10,000 individual 1-2-1 sessions!). Many of the original crew I started coaching over two decades ago still swim with us to this day.
Further afield, I am extremely grateful for the support and encouragement you have all provided over this time frame. I've been able to follow my passion and do my dream job in arguably one of the best cities in the world.
The Japanese talk about "Ikigai" as identifying your life's purpose and what gets you up in the morning (in my case, at 4.30am every day!).
Through coaching swimmers right around the globe, I can attest that I've found mine:
The success of the program here in Perth has, in turn, allowed us to reach an even greater number of coaches and swimmers around the world and in 2022 we look forward to pivoting the way we've traditionally done things with overseas travel and the like (which, pessimistically I still see as being a little ways off yet) in a way that helps other coaches and swim squads that have been devastated by the effects of the pandemic, rise again from the ashes.
I wanted to send you through a 90-second video clip that I compiled yesterday of a range of videos as a funky collage from my last 20 years here in Perth of open water swimming. Can you name any of the secret locations? The last shot is probably the hardest to get right (even for the locals reading!).
Thanks again everyone - you make this what it is and I'll always be grateful for that...here's to the next 20!
Paul
