About Us

Supporting Staff

The team supporting the swimmers in the FIRST program includes a full & part time coaching staff and volunteers taking on a number of roles in support of the athletes.

Head Coach of FIRST - Andrew Addison

We are delighted to introduce our Performance Head Coach Andrew Addison.

Originally from Preston, despite his youthful appearance, Andrew has been a coach for many years, including Head Coach at SWL and most recently National Girls Coach at Warrender.

Andrew Specialties: High performance sports coaching, swimming technique, training plans for swimmers and triathletes, lifestyle for athletes.

Assistant Coach - Currently Recruiting

https://www.scottishswimming.com/about-us/job-opportunities/age-group-performance-squad-coach.aspx?fbclid=IwAR1LGCBoDLEPTuF-WDxqKUBfa0jucRQ4gsD1VHhCKCmvFHCNSI5mOZ-iRUo

Committee and Volunteers

The key roles within the committee are as follows:

  • Chairperson - Gordon Smith (Grangemouth ASC)
  • Secretary - Marie McMahon (Grangemouth ASC)
  • Treasurer - Grant Hamilton (Falkirk Otters ASC)
  • Well-being Officer - Louise Whyte (Grangemouth ASC)

The programme could not run without volunteers who also take on a number of roles in support of the athletes; this includes:

  • Additional Committee members who play an important role in the management of the programme, fund raising and competition administration.
  • Team Managers who play a pivotal role in the support of athletes when they travel to competitions.
  • Swimming Technical Officials (STO's)

The involvement and commitment of the partner clubs is also an important aspect of the success of the programme as is the relationship the programme enjoys with local Education establishments who support the training facility requirements of the programme. The FIRST home training pool is Grangemouth High School and thanks must be given to the school staff in particular the Head Teacher who allows access to the school to enable us to utilise the facilities.

Sponsorship

The program has a sound financial foundation and wishes to secure short and long term partnerships to continue to fund its ambitious development plans. We see sponsorship partners as an important aspect to support our continued success and help us continue to develop performance swimming. We can provide a number of opportunities for potential sponsors and details of existing sponsorship packages can be provided; we are also open to discussing bespoke sponsorship packages with any prospective sponsor. If you are interesting in sponsoring our program please contact us we would like to hear from you.

Individual Sponsorship

We have swimmers within the FIRST program who have obtained external funding through individual sponsorships, Funkita and Jaguar.

FIRST Achievements

The FIRST program has achieved considerable success since its realisation. The program has continued to improve on previous year’s success at the highest level of domestic competitions in Britain. An example of the continual improvement can be demonstrated by the increase of swimmers competing at the Scottish National Age Groups. In 2006 the program had 2 swimmers, 11 swims, reached 3 finals and no relay swims. In 2012 the program had 36 swimmers, 204 swims, reached 91 finals and had 20 relay swims. Progression in this competition has seen the program going from 16th placed team in 2009 to Top Scottish Team in 2012. Other examples of success include:
    • Medal winners at the 2011 UK School Games
    • Finalist at World Junior Championships in Dubai 2013
    • 9 swimmers selected to represent Scotland at the Duel Nations in Ireland 2014
    • Commonwealth Youth Games Isle of Man medal winner and Scottish Record
    • Representation at the Dutch Olympic Trials Dec 11
    • British Olympic Trials March - 6 swimmers
    • ASA British Gas Trials 2012 doubled as the Trials for the London 2012 Olympics,  FIRST had one of the largest representations at the meet from any Scottish based program
    • Two of our Youth Development Squad members were selected to attend the London 2012 Olympic Trials for future experience
    • Swimmer qualified for the European Junior Championships on the back of Olympic Trials- First GB Junior Cap for FIRST
    • Two Scottish Senior Records broken
    • Five Scottish Junior Records broken
    • Scottish National Relay Champions (Women's 4x50Fr, Senior+Junior)
    • Numerous Scottish Age Group Records broken
    • Numerous West District Age Group Records broken by numerous athletes
    • Aberdeen Dolphin Mitchell Trophy Top Team + Relay Champions

Media Profile

The FIRST Youth Squad and Age Group Squad compete at Regional, National and International events. These events are held in some of the best swimming facilities in the UK and help raise the profile of the FIRST programme not only in Scotland but UK wide and in Europe. An increasing number of the events FIRST are competing at on a regular basis are now being streamed live through a number of sources, this is providing further opportunities to increase awareness of the FIRST and its partners. The program regularly features local press, national press and Swimming journals. And has an excellent relationship with the media. We can be followed on Facebook and Twitter. The program regards Social Media as an important opportunity to develop the profile of FIRST and its partners.