meet ryan
Ryan’s love for swimming began at an early age where he started swimming for local clubs in the West Midlands. During his initial years of competitive swimming he achieved success at county and regional level, resulting in selection to swim for the City of Birmingham squad.
Ryan’s passion and commitment for the sport quickly excelled and he achieved multiple British age group and junior titles in breaststroke and individual medley. He also achieved International recognition representing England and Great Britain Juniors on the world stage.
After taking a well earned break from the sport for 15 years Ryan’s passion was reignited following contact with a local disabled children’s charity 'Friends of Alfie Johnson.' Keen to raise much needed funds and explore innovative fundraising ideas, 'Friends of Alfie Johnson’s' Channel Relay Team was born. Ryan led the team and engaged a group of 4 other ex-competitive swimmers to complete a one way relay in July 2018.
Ryan then found his love for open water swimming and was quickly an honouree member of 'Big Ricks' Swim team. During this time he
successfully completed a 4 way channel relay with 'Big Ricks', securing the proud title of European and British record holders. They were the only team
to complete the four way channel swim.
During the build up to these 2 big swims Ryan also completed the 2Swim4Life 24 hr swim, Guildford 12 hour swim, River Waveney swim, and the Channel up North relay swim, gaining 1st place in the latter 2 events.
After reaching his own personal goals Ryan wanted to redirect his passion to helping others accomplish theirs. Ryan then volunteered at his local swim club coaching development groups and contributing to the wider club development programme. Ryan completed his level 2 coaching qualification with Swim England and is currently studying to become a L2 open water coach.
Ryan’s passion for the sport is evident and his knowledge both as competitor and coach means that he is able to offer greater depth and experience to those looking to improve. A passion for swimming, a commitment to development and a great sense of pride in helping you achieve your goal is at the heart of the Swimgainz ethos
meet JOSH
Josh started swimming at Halesowen Swimming Club in 2010. He was chosen to become Senior Vice-Captain and then Captain for 7 years, taking on leadership responsibilities and leading the team to many victories.
He became assistant head coach at Halesowen in June 2019, and was further promoted to head coach in December 2019. In 2021 he completed his Swim England Senior Coaching qualification L3.
Josh competed at National level for a decade, setting County and Midland records in the process, placing consistently in the top 30 in Britain, achieving top 10 status on numerous occasions in British A finals during that time. He also enjoyed competing at British and Scottish International meets, racing against swimmers from all over Europe.
After many years of success in the sport, his main focus has now shifted to passing on his knowledge and experience to the next generation.
Josh’s event preference was for sprint/middle distance events, particularly the 100 IM, but has also enjoyed open water swimming for many years and in 2021 completed an ultra-marathon by swimming the length of Lake Windermere - 11.5 miles.
Josh is an extremely technical swimmer and coach. His enthusiasm for this amazing sport and its members is clear to see, with a genuine desire to help those seeking technical excellence and improvement in pursuit of your goals.
