Julia Murden
Head Coach
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In 2009 my then eleven year old son was selected for a pathway
development programme in swimming. In plain language that means you
have to get up at 5.30 in the morning four mornings a week and
train approx twenty hours a week - my son was keen, I was not. I
had the normal parent concerns, would he burn out? What would it do
to his education? Would I be able to get up at 5.30am four
mornings a week?
After a long hard think I decided training twenty hours a week
at eleven years old was crazy but I did not want to disappoint my
son as he loved to swim. My next step was to try and get him
involved in another sport involving swimming, so we tried triathlon
but as Will quickly pointed out to me “you cannot swim
butterfly in triathlon mum” so that wasn’t to be. In
typical mum fashion I said never mind son we will do this together
and I will coach you and ten years later here we are.
After starting a club with one swimmer in 2009 I now have a
large family, that I call my swimming family. I have met some great
people, I love the swimmers I coach and I have had the privilege of
working with some great young people. I have developed swimmers
from junior swimming all the way through to senior national
competition and I am now watching some of our first learn to swim
children thrive in a competitive environment.
I have learnt that coaching is about passion about belief and
commitment about believing in young people often before they
believe in themselves, the results are a joy to witness and be part
of.
William Murden
Assistant Coach Competitive Level 1
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I have been in and around the water since before my first
birthday and joined my first swimming club at the age of ten.
My passion for swimming grew in leaps and bounds,
reaching the top of the British rankings for my age by the
time I was eleven.
Over the years I have travelled all over Europe to take part in
training camps and watch world championship competitions. I
have also competed across the country and internationally in
county, regional and national level competitions.
At 18 I went to Stirling University in Scotland where I got the
opportunity to train with multiple Commonwealth, World and Olympic
swimmers. At age twenty two my passion for swimming remains and I
am considering competing at Olympic Trials in 2020 depending on my
degree commitments ( I study Sport Science at Newcastle University
and will graduate in 2020).
My main event is 200m butterfly and I presently hold the British
Masters title for the event.
I hope to be able to pass on my passion for swimming to the
younger swimmers in the club and see them achieve their
dreams in the future - A Life Worth Swimming!
Alex Hunter
Development Squad Coach
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Alex and Dean just call us The Dream Team!
We both have children swimming in the club, Dean has two
children both is Competitive Level 1 Squad who compete at
Championship level both in swimming and Triathlon and I have a
daughter who trains in Competitive Level 1 Squad and a son in
Development so we both know and understand the commitment required
for child to take part in sport both as a parent and a swimmer.
Our role is to make sure the swimmers are learning the correct
technique on all four competitive strokes, we want to see our
swimmers work hard and achieve great results as this will increase
their confidence and self belief and see them flourish not only as
young sports people but hopefully into well rounded young adults.
We also want to see our swimmers have fun and we like to think we
are a good team where all our members support one another, we work
hard together and we play hard together:)
Happy healthly children who take joy in their sport make new
friends and increase their skill level that's the aim of the Dream
Team! We will be there to support them all the way.
Joe Walsh
Competition Level 2 Coach
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Having done all my junior swimming in Darlington, I joined
Aquajets in 2013 when I moved up to Newcastle University.
Since then I have made British Nationals and Senior National
Finals.
I qualified as an ACA Chartered Accountant in August 2018 and
have worked in London for an extended period of time
previously to this. In September 2018 I decided to make the move
back up to Newcastle and get back to being more involved in
Swimming.
I coach Competitive Level 2 squad which is a group of fine young
people mainly teenagers that do not have the time to commit fully
to the sport but want to take part in competitive swimming without
the pressure of attending every gala or making every training
session. We still aim to move all the swimmers forward both at
skill level and performance times and it means the club can retain
young people in the sport and really make swimming a sport for
everyone!
Paul Callender
Coach Future Stars Stroke Masters
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I have been with Aquajets for several years now and I originally
became involved as a parent. After helping out with several
sessions I soon developed a passion for coaching and teaching.
After gaining a coaching qualification, I have been developing the
young swimmers of the Development and Junior squads for the past
few years. Technique and enjoying the learning process plays a big
role in my sessions and my aim is to develop their skills in
order to advance them to the next squad and to prepare them
for competitive swimming.
Lucas Lowery
Assistant Coach Stroke Squad
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I joined Aquajets when I was twelve years old and I am still
enjoying my swimming no as much as ever.
Over the years I have made some great friends and had the
opportunity to compete all over the country and travel abroad to
train.
I wasn't amazing when I started with my swimming but with a lot
of hardwork and dedication I have managed to reach the top levels
at my sport. I now compete mainly in the sprint events and
specialize in 50m backstroke.
I presently study at Sunderland University (Mechanical
Engineering) and I am a qualified level two teacher and life guard
It's great to be teaching the young swimmers and I hope the get
a much from the sport as it has given me - Just Keep Swimming !
Joel Dormenyo
Entry Level Swim Coach
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