Goodbye from Dan Walsh

For the past 20 years, Trafford Metro has been the place where I have grown, accomplished my goals and faced challenges. The constant through it all has been the impact of making the most of the opportunities available to me.

When Craig became Head Coach, I came back to the club full-time to swim and volunteer as a 17-year-old. Bob and Jo shared their vision for what our club could become and it has been rewarding to belong to that journey and to see their ambition become reality, with Trafford firmly on the map as a leading club regionally with representation at every level of swimming and enabling so many to remain in the sport for a lifetime.

My own introduction to swimming came through two outstanding coaches - learning to swim under the guidance of Moira Hampson, the person our family always pinpoint as building the foundations that shaped my swimming journey and the Head Coach at the club called Bryan Swindlehurst, who warmly introduced me to the club when Moira put me forward from the learn to swim scheme. My most memorable training session I ever had was with him, when I was 9 years old and he delivered the entire session without talking, and we hung onto every miming action he did - what a clever way to engage young people on the techniques being developed.

As I progressed through various levels, I went from being a quiet member of the group, to finding my voice when it mattered. I quickly learned that I needed to take responsibility for my own opportunities - even as a young swimmer - which I attribute to helping me reach so many of my goals, and something I think every member coming through our club will benefit from. From an early age, I became laser focused on achieving the most efficient technique and skills. I'd have growth spurts and I'd come back to the pool feeling like I lost sight of the end of my fingertips. When performing drills and skills, I'd ask my coaches to observe me and ask "am I doing this right" or "how did that rep look" as often as possible. I wasn't looking for reassurance, I was seeking a challenge to become better, and rather than wait for this feedback to come to me, I was pursuing it as regularly as I could. I remember Bob refereeing Arena League at Macclesfield when I was swimming for the u15s relay team. I decided to try to maximise my underwater kicks off the wall in the build up to that event and I was regularly hitting 10 metres off the wall in training. I got out the pool celebrating our relay success and Bob, with his cheery smile, pointed out that he was impressed with my underwaters and gave me a few pointers to make it stronger. That simple comment reinforced my motivation to keep working on my underwaters in training and became another staple of my swimming.

That mindset to continuous improvement has stayed with me in everything I set out to do and my message to everyone coming through the club is simple - grasp the opportunities in front of you. These opportunities aren't always obvious, and they won't feel easy, but they are always worth it.

After representing Trafford Metro at a local gala, I raced a 400 Freestyle, and I was greeted by Craig and Jo who stayed on the poolside to cheer me on. I felt my spark reignite as Craig gave me more practical feedback to implement than I had got in the last year. I made the difficult decision to leave COMAST and return to Trafford Metro, and I have never looked back.

My goal when I took on the role to lead Mini Mets was aligned to my goals as a swimmer - create even more opportunities for our members. Together with Bob's support as Chairman, we established a smoother pathway into the club with our Gold Hat swim academy, doubled pool time and introduced low-level competitions.

As I put my stopwatches away in a drawer and return to being solely a member of the club, I hope to see more members coming through grasp the same opportunities I was given at the club. We have a fantastic pathway into the Masters and all our coaches want to support our members in achieving long term success and participation in swimming.

Even when you reach the next phase of your swimming journey, there is still room to grow.

Whatever you do, there are always areas to improve and it's up to you to seek this.

Best wishes,

Dan Walsh