Captains

Ross Barnshaw

Mens Captain

I started swimming with Beccles Kingfishers Swimming Club at the age of 7 and am enjoying it still.  Everyone at the club is a pleasure to be around and our club has a great team spirit which can be seen at the various competitions we take part in every year.

I have not yet qualified for the Regional Championships but I am determined to do so.  After many years of competing in club galas and championships as well as County Championships I feel that I am now much more motivated.  At the recent Development Championships held at Newmarket I achieved 8 gold and 2 silver medals achieving joint top boy with my team mate Daniel.  I have some county time and I hope to get some more by the end of this year and push to achieve regional times.

In my spare time I assist with the junior swimmers and love to see them progress and improve.  Doing this is also a personal gain as I develop some of the key skills I will need for teaching in the future.

It is an honour to become Men’s Vice Captain for the club and I will strive to encourage, support, help and motivate our swimmers.

I am currently finishing Year 10 at Sir John Leman High School in Beccles studying towards GCSEs.  Obviously swimming is my primary sport but I have also played Hockey for Lowestoft Railway Hockey Club and last year played Norfolk County hockey through the academy.  My favourite subject at school is probably product design but PE also comes high on the list.

Nina Howell

Ladies Captain

I first started swimming with Beccles Kingfishers at the age of 6 and after 10 years with the club I still enjoy it loads. I feel that Beccles is such a friendly club and all its members are very close.

Over the years I have spent with the club I have competed in many open meets and club galas. I have also competed in The Suffolk County and Development Championships since 2009 where I have achieved many medals over the years. Most recently I achieved joint top girl at the 2015 Development Championships. I hope to continue competing for Beccles and would love to be able to qualify for Regional Championships in the near future.

I have been helping with teaching the junior squad for a couple of years now which enables me to see a lot of the junior squad progress and develop as swimmers which is always very rewarding. I also aim to complete my level 1 teaching qualification soon. Additionally I am completing my lifeguard qualification at the end of July this year. I have also just finished my GCSE’s at Bungay High School and I am going to Bungay Sixth Form to do A-Levels.

I feel very honoured to have been awarded ladies captain and I will try my best to provide both the swimmers, club captains and coaches with support as well as encouraging and motivating all club members in order for them to enjoy their time at the club as much as I do. I am very thankful for this position as it gives me the opportunity to give something back to club after everything it has done for me.

Callum Thurston-Woolnough

Mens Vice Captain

Text TBC.

Eve Waller

Ladies Vice Captain

I joined Beccles in late 2008, after one of my teachers at Waveney Swimming Lessons recommended that I should join. The next year, June 2009 I competed in my first Development Championships and came away with my first medal, bronze in 50m butterfly. Since then I’ve competed in many galas and competitions across the region and have enjoyed swimming and participating in every single one.

Since my first gala at Norwich when I was nine, I’ve taken part in many other galas and championships; I was so nervous at my first gala I chewed a hole in my towel! I still get nervous now but swimming for my club and being cheered on by fellow swimmers makes it all worthwhile. I have competed in County Championships twice and although I didn’t win any medals, it was still fun to swim and support with the club. I hope to qualify for County Champs and even Regional Champs in the future.

When I turned fourteen I started helping with the younger ones a Friday in lane one and I can’t believe it’s been nearly two years since then! I’ve seen many young swimmers progress and it’s so rewarding and heart warming to watch them. I get and have gotten to know many swimmers, making our club feel even more like a family.

A couple of years ago, I took several months off from swimming since I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I had but I soon came back and loved it more than ever thanks to helping on a Friday. Currently, I am unable to swim due to a recent accident: I fell out of a tree, fracturing a vertebra in my neck. I was in hospital for four days, with x-rays and a contraption known as a halo secured to my head. But the whole club has been so supportive and so understanding through it all, from my first visit to the pool to the wonderful gifts I received to a visit from Tim whilst in the hospital, I couldn’t ask for a better swimming club and I’ll always be so grateful.

I feel very honoured and privileged to be Vice Captain this year, I honestly never expected it! I will do all and everything I can to support and encourage our club in every competition and every gala so that we can always be the best that we always are. I have grown so much as a swimmer so I hope I can inspire and help others along, as well as being the best swimmer that I can possibly be.