Taunton School to launch new swimming programme later this year
Taunton School is set to launch a new swimming programme in September.
The programme follows the appointment of a new director of swimming at the school.
Rachel Aldington, a lead swimming coach at Millfield School, will take on the role.
She is also a head coach in Somerset, working with young athletes who swim at regional, national, and international levels.
The school's new swimming programme will be aligned with best practice and tailored to athletes' ages and stages.
It will create a researched, transitional environment designed to nurture talent and support long-term potential.
A variety of training types and times will be available, working around students' academic commitments, alongside mentoring and mental skills coaching to enhance focus and resilience.
Students at Taunton School have achieved many swimming successes in recent years, including qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic swimming trials, attending international training camps and competitions, and winning multiple national finals each year.
Daniel Pettifer, director of sport at Taunton School, said: "We are very excited to have a coach of Rachel's reputation, qualifications and experience come in and drive our programme forward to create a highly competitive and nurturing swimming experience at Taunton School."
Rachel, who has led Swim England programmes at county, regional, and national levels, and was part of the Team England coaching staff for the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad & Tobago in 2023, is looking forward to guiding athletes at the school.
Taunton School's swimming provision utilises its two pools to support a variety of aquatic disciplines, including lessons, survival, and competitive swimming.
Each year, Taunton Prep School trains a group of pupils to swim the English Channel as part of its co-curricular offering.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
20 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Rishabh Pant's latest audacious century for India lights up Headingley test
LEEDS, England — Rishabh Pant doesn't always embrace the easy hit. One of cricket's mavericks, the India wicketkeeper loves the difficult, high-risk shot. Even in the most nerve-shredding moments, Pant considers options other than the conservative choice. For eight years, his swashbuckling play and attitude has been engaging or enraging India fans.
Associated Press
27 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Rishabh Pant's latest audacious century for India lights up Headingley test
LEEDS, England (AP) — Rishabh Pant doesn't always embrace the easy hit. One of cricket's mavericks, the India wicketkeeper loves the difficult, high-risk shot. Even in the most nerve-shredding moments, Pant considers options other than the conservative choice. For eight years, his swashbuckling play and attitude has been engaging or enraging India fans. Either way, he is unmissable. Another one of those moments arrived on Saturday against England during the test series opener at Headingley. For the 14th time in his test career, Pant batted into the 90s. Seven times previously he'd fallen in the 90s, making him one of the worst batters on percentage to convert 90s into hundreds in test history. Pant was mainly restrained on Friday to help India consolidate but he began Saturday on 65 and entertained. He made runs from ugly hacks and mistimed and unorthodox shots thanks to sublime wristwork and footwork. He charged into the 90s with a falling-over ramp shot over fine leg to the boundary followed by a pulled six. Then he inched to 99. The common sense play to the hundred was a single but Pant hoicked a six over cow corner. As the Headingley crowd applauded, he celebrated his seventh hundred and third against England also in typical style, with a somersault in his pads, sans helmet. He featured in a 209-run partnership with captain Shubman Gill and was finally out for 134. For all the knocks on Pant's audacity — India great Sunil Gavaskar berated his soft dismissal from a failed scoop shot in December as 'stupid, stupid, stupid' on a radio broadcast — his way has been effective. Pant has the most test hundreds for an India keeper, leaving behind Mahendra Singh Dhoni on six. He's the only visiting wicketkeeper in England to score more than one test century. He hit a six to complete a test hundred for a third time, all against England. For India, only Rohit Sharma (3) and Sachin Tendulkar (6) have raised centuries with a six as many times as Pant. Gavaskar and Pant turned the 'stupid, stupid, stupid' comment into a commercial. And on Saturday, when Pant got his century, Gavaskar acclaimed it on air by saying, 'Superb, superb, superb.' ___ AP cricket:
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Alcaraz sets up Queen's final clash with Lehecka
Carlos Alcaraz reached the Queen's Club final for the second time as the world number two eased to a 6-4, 6-4 win over Roberto Bautista Agut on Saturday. Alcaraz extended his career-best winning streak to 17 matches in a semi-final played in sweltering conditions at the Wimbledon warm-up event in west London. Advertisement The five-time Grand Slam champion hit 36 winners and 15 aces to dispatch his fellow Spaniard in 90 minutes. Top seeded Alcaraz will face Jiri Lehecka in Sunday's final after the Czech world number 30's shock 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 win against British star Jack Draper in the other semi-final. Playing his first tournament since his epic French Open victory against Jannik Sinner two weeks ago, the 22-year-old is through to his fifth successive final after lifting titles on clay in Paris, Rome, Barcelona and Monte Carlo. Alcaraz signalled his emergence as a grass-court force by winning Queen's in 2023, clinching the Wimbledon title for the first time just weeks later and defending his All England Club crown last year. Advertisement He is one victory away from becoming only the second Spaniard to win Queen's twice, after Feliciano Lopez's victories in 2017 and 2019. Alcaraz wasted little time taking control against Bautista Agut, unfurling a deft drop-shot to break in the third game of the match. That was all the encouragement Alcaraz needed as he held serve with ease to close out the first set. Bautista Agut, 37, enjoyed a surprise win over Danish fourth seed Holger Rune in the last eight. But Alcaraz never looked like suffering the same fate and he delivered the knockout blow in the second set. A whipped forehand down the line earned a break-point that he converted to move 3-2 ahead. Advertisement The nerveless Alcaraz finished off the win in typically ruthless fashion to the delight of the fans waving Spanish flags to salute their hero. - 'You have no choice' - Earlier, Lehecka ended Draper's bid for a maiden Queen's final appearance. Lehecka, who will be playing in his first ATP grass-court final, is the first Czech to reach the men's title match at Queen's since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. The 23-year-old said: "It means a lot. You don't meet a player like Jack every day, he's an amazing competitor." Draper was hoping to become the first British singles champion at Queen's since five-time winner Andy Murray's most recent victory in 2016. Advertisement But the world number six will have to wait at least another year to get his hands on the silverware after claiming a bout of tonsillitis played a role in his defeat. "I haven't felt good all week. I'm proud of the way I went about things, considering, but it's tough," he said. "You're an entertainer, an athlete, and you have no choice. No one cares, you know. So you've just got to go out there and do the best you can. "Today's probably the worst I've felt. Did I think about withdrawing? No, not at all. I'm in the semi-finals at Queen's. I'd probably go on court with a broken leg." Advertisement Lehecka had already ended the hopes of one Briton at Queen's after beating Jacob Fearnley in the quarter-finals on Friday. He also defeated world number 12 Alex de Minaur in his opening match of the tournament, but knocking out Draper was his biggest scalp yet. smg/dmc
