Aquatics GB launches athlete-focused “Open Doors” initiative
Five swimmers are throwing themselves into a unique work experience opportunity as they take part in the first-ever Aquatics GB Open Doors project.
Paralympic champions Brock Whiston and Maisie Summers-Newton, Olympic gold medallist Kieran Bird, World Championship medal-winner Abbie Wood and three-time British champion Kara Hanlon have signed up to learn about the day-to-day business functions that go into running a National Governing Body – which help support them and their teammates to be able to train and perform on the world’s biggest stages.
The project was conceptualised by UK Sports Institute Senior Performance Lifestyle Coach Claire Ewing and brought to life with Julie Smith, Senior Performance Lifestyle Coach, Paralympic Swimming.
Claire, Performance Lifestyle Lead for Olympic Swimming, was inspired by visiting an event in Bristol that invited attendees behind the scenes at different historical sites. She saw a potential opportunity for the National Governing Body to do something similar and sought the support of Aquatics GB CEO Drew Barrand.
Claire explained: “It seemed to me that we (the sports system) were always looking elsewhere for opportunities for athletes, but Aquatics GB has so much to offer, it just made sense to utilise that.
“Drew said yes straight away and is driven to show that there is more to athletes than their sport and performance, which aligns brilliantly with our More2Me campaign at the UKSI.
“As a Performance Lifestyle team working with Para Swimming and Diving, we recognised the opportunity for this programme to be a cross-aquatic offer. Leaving a world class programme is inevitable for all athletes and we see the value in them sharing their experiences and championing each other in their pursuit of options for the next careers.
“For swimmers and divers their time is precious, ‘free’ time is structured around periodised plans and not forgetting the training load impacts their energy [outside of training]. The strength of running an ‘inhouse’ initiative is we appreciate the demands on athletes time and know what it takes to succeed on the world stage. A lot of existing internships are very structured in terms of what you are expected to do, so we wanted to create something that was flexible something they could actually access.”
Over the next six months, the quintet of world-class competitors will gain experience and be mentored in areas such as communications and marketing, data analysis and travel planning as part of the performance operations setup, sports science and sports medicine (SSSM), and interview and CV writing skills with the People department, as they look to gain valuable insights and skills that can help their future career planning for life beyond competition.
They will also get the chance to shadow Aquatics GB CEO Drew Barrand at stages in the lead-up to April’s Aquatics GB Swimming Championships and the summer’s World Championships in Singapore.
“We know that our athletes are outstanding at doing what they do in the performance arena, but I know they will also go on to have big impacts in whatever they do in the future – and it is great that we can give this group a glimpse into some of the jobs that our fantastic staff take on at Aquatics GB, as a way of gaining important career skills,” said Drew.
“Staff from across the business function departments are going to mentor one of the five athletes to help them get the most from this programme and ensure it is tailored to the areas that really interest them, so we know it’s going to have a great impact. It may even lead to athletes moving from our pools to our offices in years to come!
“It’s a huge credit to Claire Ewing and the rest of Open Doors team – Julie Smith, Clare Hartley, Janine Harriman, Karen Walton – that we have been able to get this project off the ground among the busy planning, training and competition schedule of the aquatics calendar.”
For Claire, the real success will be what the athletes take away from the experience.
“We have encouraged them to be curious and play, get a feel for life within an NGB. My hope is these five athletes make the most of this genuine open-door opportunity and if it helps them with identifying avenues to explore further as well as closing doors on some ideas, that will be amazing.”
Claire, hopes the programme can become well established and replicated across the High Performance System.
“We really want this to be sustainable, and there’s real appetite from Drew and everyone at Aquatics GB to run this every year.
“A lot of athletes leave career exploration until the end of their sporting career, which can be too late. I think it can be seen as a performance distraction, but it absolutely isn’t. It’s really important for athletes to do some of this learning alongside their sport and I think National Governing Bodies have a duty of care to open up some access and allow them to do that.
“All athletes need is a chance to see something that’s not beyond their reach. None of this group have retired, they’ve all done education and remained in their sport, but they’re all curious about what could come next and want to give themselves a competitive advantage in the job market.
Those five athletes are now ready to dive in to the work that goes on away from the pool, and Olympic gold medallist Kieren Bird is excited for what’s to come.
“It’s a really exciting programme. A great opportunity for us guys on the programme and it’s a great initiative from the guys at Aquatics GB, I’m really excited to see what the future holds for it.”
Also enrolled onto the programme is Paralympic champion Maisie Summers-Newton, looking forward to further providing an athlete perspective to the work behind the scenes at Aquatics GB.
“I finished my university course in November, so I had a period of time where I didn’t really know what to do, whether to go down the teaching route or to keep swimming. I think at the moment it’s providing that opportunity for me to do something outside of swimming where I can be with other athletes at the same time but learn so much more from people within the national governing body. Hopefully I can share my experiences and my knowledge with the staff and make changes.”
Find out more on the Aquatics GB website
Find out more about the Performance Lifestyle More2Me campaign