Elite high-performance swim coach for Aquatic Centre
29 October 2012
Swim Rotorua, the swimming club based at Rotorua's Aquatic Centre, has announced the appointment of Alastair Johnson as head coach of the Club. He becomes one of only a small number of elite high-performance coaches working in New Zealand.
Mr Johnson has been a full time swimming coach since 1989 including the last 16 years as head coach to clubs in New Zealand, England and Scotland. He has coached at all levels including juniors, age-groupers, youth athletes, seniors, swimmers with disabilities, triathletes and high performance swimmers. He has a wealth of national team experience at international events including World Championships, Commonwealth Games, FINA World Cups and European Meets. He has coached a number of outstanding individuals, including those who have gone on to become Olympic Champions, a double Paralympian gold medallist, and Commonwealth Games medallists.
Most recently, Mr Johnson has been head coach of the City of Sunderland in England . He also provided cover to the Isle of Man as National Coach, and as Director of Coaching for a Singapore swimming club. Prior to that he was head coach of Christchurch's highly successful AquaGym Swimming Club for a number of years, and was a member of the New Zealand coaching staff at the 2007 World Championships.
Rotorua District Council Aquatic & Leisure Manager Louis Sylvester said it was great to have such an experienced and well qualified coach joining the Swim Rotorua team to take it to the next level.
"This is simply fantastic for Rotorua and New Zealand swimming. Well done to Swim Rotorua for working so diligently to secure this high profile appointment."
Rotorua's world-class distance swimmer Kane Radford is thrilled with the appointment. "It will provide a huge boost for swimming in Rotorua and the wider Bay of Plenty region and give our swimmers the very best opportunity to develop and shine in their sport."
Mr Johnson said he was excited by the challenge of his new position and believed Swim Rotorua had great potential to grow, and to produce amazing results.
"I've reviewed the history, profile and recent performances of Swim Rotorua. I believe that by building on the present foundations I can lead Swim Rotorua to become a national force in swimming that we can all be immensely proud of".
Mr Johnson is English-born and married to a New Zealander, Alison, and they have two children aged 14 and 12. As well as identifying Rotorua as the best location to pursue his coaching goals, he was attracted by the many things that Rotorua offered his family and in particular for his children growing up.
He takes up his position with Swim Rotorua in early November.