Meet the incredible coaching team who inspire our members, help them take on new challenges and hit new heights. Experts across all the Triathlon disciplines they manage to support, motivate and keep it fun at the same time. That’s no mean feat!
Meet Grant – Head coach and Godfather of Nuffield’s swimming lanes.
With an impressive 20 years of swimming coaching under his belt, Grant is no stranger to helping triathletes overcome the many anxieties that seem to go hand in hand with swimming. Grant’s wealth of experience coupled with his friendly demeanour is a catalyst for enabling all abilities to succeed in their swimming goals – everyone from Kona World Champions to swimming novices.
You’ll often find Grant (and his infamous flip flops) sharing a helpful tip or two at the club’s set on a Saturday morning, sometimes with the aid of his trusty GoPro. This is part of Grant’s quest to provide personalised commentary to the club to ensure ‘good’ swims quickly tumble turn into ‘great’ swims, no matter the challenge at hand.
Grant is no stranger to competing and is always looking to push his boundaries. He has completed a wealth of 70:3 distances, 3 ironmans including his latest in Portugal, October 2022 with the Swim-1st Tri Club. He insists he is always peer pressured into racing more challenging and gruelling distances/courses, but we know triathlons holds a special place in Grant’s heart. In fact, this is where he met his wife Gemma many years ago.
When Grant isn’t coaching, he’s experimenting with his GoPro, creating artistic shots of his family adventures, trialling new BBQ recipes to find the ultimate pre-race meal and juggling fitting the demands of training alongside a busy schedule.
Meet Karen – arguably the smiliest and most encouraging of coaches.
Karen brings a wealth of experience to Swim-1st Tri Club and has an immense amount of love for the sporting world. Since obtaining her B.Ed (Hons) in Physical Education from Exeter University nearly 30 years ago, Karen has stayed firmly rooted in the Fitness industry.
She is passionate about sharing her knowledge with others – everyone from the experienced to the inexperienced, covering a range of topics from technique to nutrition – her friendly disposition really does suit all. Karen works as a Sport & PE teacher at a local sixth form college and has over 20+ years’ experience working as a Personal Trainer – specialising in women’s health, particularly those in mid-life.
After having taken part in a range of triathlons from sprint distances to 70:3, both in the UK and overseas, Karen professes the Olympic distance is her favourite. In 2021, Karen was awarded her ‘London Classics’ medal for completing the iconic London marathon, gruelling Ride London (the route with the Surrey hills) and the tough Swim Serpentine; a victory made all the sweeter for pipping her equally sporty husband to the post to obtain it!
Meet Kevin – Level 2 Swimming Teacher and Triathlon Personal Coach
Kevin is keen to pass on his love of swimming to athletes of all levels, especially those who are new to it. He has a keen eye for perfecting stroke technique, positioning in the water and breathing tactics, and provides the structure, guidance and motivation required to ensure feedback is easy to action. Many would agree Kevin is a world class champion at utilising humour in his coaching.
At the age of 14, Kevin was crowned the Junior European gold medallist in 100m breaststroke. Despite having a host of swimming accolades, Kevin actually entered the world of triathlon much later in life (he learnt the hard way to be careful to what you agree to at Christmas parties…). He has since become an ironman finisher for multiple races including Tenby’s demanding course.
Kevin has been at the helm of the Swim-1st Tri Club for many years, previously participating as both a member and a long-standing chair of the club. He has been instrumental in keeping the club a friendly place to train, all the while fostering an environment of competitive excellence.
As a strong advocator of youth development he takes great pride in also managing the Junior Triathlon Club.
Meet Carl – the lean, keen cycling machine. L2 Triathlon Coach
Carl has transformed his cycling passion into a series of structured sessions to support the club. He has led the club in many social rides through the rolling hills of Sussex, orchestrated Swim-1st TT routes, and has welcomed the challenge of preparing the club members for next season’s Crit Racing. Carl is dedicated to growing the members cycling abilities and enjoys nothing more seeing them do well.
Sport has always been a huge passion of Carl’s. In fact, there are very few sports that Carl hasn’t turned his hand to, including semi professional hockey and rugby.
Carl supported his friend and fellow triathlete Nicky in the Pyrennes Xtreme Triathlon Series. As a supporter, Carl was required to provide nutritional and mechanical support from start to finish through the Pyrenees course, highlighting that teamwork can really make the dream work, especially when offering up mars bars during those dark hours!
Carl also has a string of ironman and 70:3 achievements under his belt, with his most recent achievement being a 70:3 PB in Cascais in Portugal on a club trip. He lead by example and had the fastest bike spilt in the club! Prior to the 2024 Brighton Half Marathon Carl coached a weekly run training session which helped members achieve a number of new PB’s, including his own improving by 5 minutes.
Meet Glenn – the latest edition to our valuable coaching team.
Glenn is the latest edition to our valuable coaching team. Glenn has a huge passion for Triathlon, so much so he travels all over to represent GB as an Age Grouper. He qualified in 2014 and since then has competed in many European sprint championships.
Glenn loves nothing more than a challenge and keeping active. He first took to triathlons when his job threw down the gauntlet promoting the London Triathlon on his work intranet. Even though he didn’t technically finish this super sprint (he lost his timing chip in the swim), it did kickstart a passion for racing. Having previously disliked any sort of running, it has quickly transformed into Glenn’s best discipline. He benefited from coached running sessions, and through this experience, has witnessed his running goals quickly fast track into PBs with the added guidance around pacing. Glenn is often spotted leading the pack during races. He is keen to share this experience with the Swim 1st club in the hope that members can translate his insights into their own improved performances. These structured programmes of interval training is usually conducted around Crawley’s scenic Tilgate Park.
Having become a dad, Glenn fully understands the trials and tribulations of trying to balance parenthood, with training and full-time work. His biggest achievement involves taking on the Castle to Coast triathlon less than 2 months after becoming a Dad. You will often see his biggest yet smallest fan Molly, his daughter, cheering him on from the side-lines, alongside his wife Lou and his parents.
