Following the Annual General Meeting of Swim England North West Ltd held on 11th April 2026
Bob’s involvement with swimming spans over 60 years. He first joined Stretford Swimming Club in 1965 and has been contributing to the sport ever since—as a swimmer, water polo player, coach, official, and volunteer. Since joining Trafford Metro in 2005, he has served as Club Chair for the past 13 years.
Bob has also played an important role at county, regional and national level, serving on the Cheshire Executive since 2012, the North West Regional Board since 2020 and the Masters Leadership Group since 2019, supporting swimming generally and Masters and open water swimming specifically.
As a coach, his achievements are outstanding. His Masters squad has broken numerous British, European, and World records and have been British Champions for the past 3 years. He is also a former Regional and Swim England coach of the year. For the past 3 years Bob has also been delivering the Regional Distance Development Programme.
Bob has also trained hundreds of coaches as an IoS tutor and delivers team manager and safeguarding courses. In 2015 he founded Openswim UK now a leading open water venue in the North West.
His contribution has been widely recognised having been Manchester & District President on 4 occasions and a recipient of the Cherriman award for Masters and the John Wright Salver for service to Cheshire. Bob still competes both in the pool and open water and in March 2026, he became a World Champion in the 50m breaststroke at the Winter Swimming World Championships.
The SENW Regional Chair, Jim Wilks, and the regional staff would like to congratulate Bob on his appointment.
The SENW Ltd Board of Directors and regional staff would also like to thank all members who attended the AGM, either in person or via Zoom. It was a pleasure to see everyone and to provide an opportunity for members to meet and catch up.
