ALASTAIR JOHNSON

I am current leading the swimming programme as the Acting Head Coach. I am enjoying the role immensely, and I feel that I have already make significant improvements in many different areas.

I have invested time and energy in supporting and encouraging all the swimmers to train smarter with better skills and with greater understanding. This is already paying off - the swimmers are more energised, more focussed and more supportive of each other. We have seen good gains in skill development and accountability. This will help the swimmers to reach the next level.

I have recently completed a number of development initiatives including the updated Avengers passport, competition calendar, improved links with the Swim School, increased engagement with the Club, new events in December and June and a more seamless / integrated swimmer pathway and timetable. The latter is critical in attracting more St Peter's students (including international students) to swim more often. All these initiatives will be positive steps towards achieving our vision of establishing a programme of national renown.

I am currently the Lead for all the Swimming Waikato Squads. Since my appointment, I have revamped the Squads to make them more fit for purpose. This has meant a more targeted approach, including 5 Development Days across the season, appropriate competition experiences, multiple athlete intakes, plus the introduction of a Battleschool Training Camp and the Junior Duel in the Pool competition.

This is a holistic role designed to improved the coaches on-deck skills - especially with athlete engagement, teamwork, training set design, skill troubleshooting and developing the art of coaching. I have regular mentoring sessions with each coach to help them to keep on improving. As a result, our junior membership numbers have significantly increased over the last 12 months, and the performance levels are starting to improve across all squads.

I also coach the Vikings Squad where I practice what I preach - there is a big focus on teamwork, athlete education & empowerment, training & racing skills and kicking. Athlete performances are continuously tracked and published to serve as a motivating tool. As a result, we have seen massive improvements over the last 18 months.

My main responsibility was to upskill the age group coaches across New Zealand to enhance athlete development, retention and competition performances. This was done through a multi targeted approach:

• Implement a holistic National Age Programme (NAP) - age & stage selection process, national camps, coach development & club visits, fortnightly emails to over 120 coaches, testing, IDP & tracking, education zooms / presentations, innovative Tri Series Meet and racing at the Queensland Championships
• Coaching tools - Goldprint, Junior Coaches Toolbox, Race Predictor Model and Event Analysis spreadsheet
• Regional Camps and Skill Clinics - build coach capacity, teamwork and to encourage young athletes to improve their skills
• Consistent leadership and team culture at all national camps and international events

These initiatives proved very popular with coaches and athletes. In short, I helped to build trust, confidence and competence across the coaching ecosystem which resulted in improved coaching content and delivery, team culture and athlete performances. I oversaw a significant performance step change between 2022 and 2023 when the number of NAP Gold and Silver athletes doubled to 39 across 61 events.

When I was appointed as the Swim Rotorua Head Coach, the club was struggling with their purpose, identity and athlete retention. I energised the athletes and coaches by directing their efforts to make frequent and sustainable improvements. Within 6 months, everyone was contributing to our new culture of teamwork, commitment and excellence:

• New club values (Teamwork, Commitment & Excellence), new club logo, new uniform and a new squad pathway
• Introduced our new club philosophy - Swim Rotorua - Where Swimmers Excel
• Inclusive and friendly Club - We have a place for everyone
• World Class coaching - the coaching team discussed and defined what it was, how it looked and why it was important
• Coach development - monthly coaches meetings, regular skills clinics, Coaches Toolbox
• Junior Academy - we delivered on Fun, Fitness & Friendship
• We were very active in the local community - providing swimming press reports for the Rotorua Daily Post and school newsletters, principal partner in the Making the Difference Water Safety Programme, and significant involvement in the annual Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon
• Introduction of the Swim Rotorua Way, Club Champs, Club records, Speed Awards, monthly newsletter, Athlete of the Month awards etc

My role was to lead the club, and put in place a growth plan as the club had recently moved to a new 50 metre pool. My main responsibilities included:

• Deliver world class coaching
• Strong leadership to the coaching team (swimming & diving)
• Oversight of our 3 local junior swimming academies
• New timetable and squad pathway
• Leading the Swim England Talent Programme (North East) - including coaching, support for local coaches, on site services (lactate testing, S&C, nutrition, lifestyle support, 50 metre pool access etc) to the regional High Performance and development athletes and their coaches.

We enjoyed significant successes including membership growth, and placing athletes on national teams and camps.

My family and I emigrated to New Zealand in 2004 as this was always part of our long term plan to work and live in New Zealand (my wife grew up in Christchurch).

• AquaGym is a family run business with a highly respected and innovative Swim School and a well established Swim Club. As Head Coach, I was particularly aware of the need to provide a holistic programme to enhance the longevity of each athlete. I worked in close collaboration with the Swim School teachers, especially with the transition squads (staff training, syllabus and mentoring) and at the monthly Mini Meets.
• We enjoyed considerable success - we were the Top Club in the South Island and we regularly placed in the Top 3 clubs at National Championships (NAGS and Opens). We also had athletes compete at World Championships, World SC Champs, Pan Pacs, Oceania Champs, World University Games, Junior Pan Pacs and Trans Tasman Series.
• It was a great time for me personally as I was honoured to be appointed to the New Zealand Teams at the 2007 World Championships (Team Coach) and at the 2006 Commonwealth Games (Team staff).

This was a new position based at the National Swimming Academy (NSA) at the University of Stirling. My main task was to raise the standard of coaching, and to improve Scottish athlete performances at British and international events. I established a two new national programmes:

• National Youth Programme (14-17 years) - big focus on coach development, 5 national camps per season and building a strong cohesive team
• District Development Pathway (12-15 years) - each of the 4 regions put in place a '321 programme'. This was 3 local camps, 2 weekend camps at the NSA (all 4 regions combined) and 1 competition experience (eg. Sheffield Open Meet)

The new programmes were a massive success. We enjoyed unprecedented success at British events and at the European Junior Championships. Many of the Youth Programme athletes graduated onto the 2006 Commonwealth Games Team where Scotland won an amazing 6 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals. A personal highlight for me was watching the Scottish Men's 4 x 200 Freestyle Relay place second (just pipped by the English quartet) which contained 3 young graduates from the Youth Squad.

My first task was to establish a new performance club in partnership with the 6 local clubs. This was a significant challenge as the athlete numbers, commitment and skills were all very low. Despite our humble beginnings we became the Top age group club in Scotland within 3 years - a position which we held for a further 3 years until I moved to Scottish Swimming:

• I implemented a suite of initiatives including coach development opportunities, club / athlete development pathway, high expectations (the 'COAST way'), Junior Grand Prix, records, rankings, etc.
• The new club improved dramatically. Within 5 years we had over 10 athletes on the Scottish National Youth Programme. COAST athletes competed at the 1998 and 2002 Commonwealth Games, plus other international events (including Fina World Cups, Canadian Nationals and Czech Nationals). Our huge success paved the way for other performance clubs being set up across Scotland.

When I joined Stockport Metro, the club was struggling due to many athletes leaving. My main role was to build the club base, and to foster a positive relationship with Swim Stockport (the council Learn to Swim Programme) and with the local swim clubs. Within 3 years we enjoyed significant growth and our national ranking at NAGS jumped up 40 places to break into Top 10. In my last season, Stockport Metro was the Top age group club in Britain:

• I coached Dame Sarah Storey (nee Bailey) to her first two Paralympic gold medals at Barcelona 1992.
• I also coached Commonwealth Games champion James Hickman (also 5 times 200 Butterfly Short Course World Champion and double World Record holder), and Commonwealth Games Champion James Goddard during their formative age group years.