Swimming Academy Coaching Team

Guy Worrow

Guy_Worrow

Guy Worrow is an experienced Level 3 Swim Coach with over 15 years of coaching experience. He has received multiple accolades from his time as a competitive swimmer, and the majority of his coaching career has been at the programme in Leicester, where he built the programme from its creation through to a fully formed 300+ member programme.

During his career, Guy has had a number of successes including coaching athletes that have represented their country, as well as multiple National Champions and medallists. Guy has also enjoyed a number of team successes during his career, including consecutive Arena Junior League Finals and the National Arena League Grand Final in 2022.

As a coach, I am passionate, enthusiastic, structured, hard-working and enjoy seeing the development and growth in others. As a goal driven coach, I thrive on encouraging athletes to achieve their full potential and believe one of my core strengths is the ability to help athletes identify and recognise their own potential.

My areas of focus for Ellesmere College Swimming Academy include:

Creating an environment that drives performance both in and out of the pool

Creating an environment that drives performance both in and out of the pool
Ensuring the programme best serves the athletes and supports progression
Building and monitoring training cycles, adapting accordingly to support athlete's goals
Working with the College to grow and develop the swim programme for both current and future athletes
Creating links with universities both nationally and internationally, to support our student athletes in taking the next steps on their swimming journey.

When I am not found at the edge of a pool, I enjoy learning more about sports psychology and nutrition, as well as researching about collectable cars, travelling, walking and spending time with friends and family.

Danny Proffitt

Danny_Proffitt

Danny has been a swimming coach for over 10 years, seven of which have been at Ellesmere College with the Swimming Academy. He has much experience working with athletes who are performance focused and their desire to take their swimming on to the next level.

He is a Level 3 Swimming coach and a Level 2 Open water coach and has been involved in many swimmers' journeys including helping swimmers reach multiple Junior and Senior international standard.

Danny came from a swimming background having swum for over 12 years in a club programme and was a multiple national medalist himself.

He graduated from the University of Anglia Ruskin in Cambridge with a BSc (Hons) in Sports Science.

"I have always been around swimming and have been involved in the sport very heavily all my life, I have had the privilege to both coach and swim at a high standard through the years. My aim is not only to help create an environment where children can find success in the sport but also to enjoy doing so and have fun in the years that they spend at the school.

My main strengths as a coach are my dedication to the sport and the athletes themselves; I am highly motivated to help the swimmers succeed and am a big technician of the sport and love developing the technique of swimmers. Due to my many years as a swimmer/student myself I believe it gives me a good understanding of what the children go through on a daily basis compared to your typical pupil at school.

When I am not on deck, I like to spend time going on walks or on my paddleboard on the mere, or if I'm having a couch day then nothing beats watching a good series on Netflix."

Mikey Hire

Mikey_Hire_2022_07_01 Mikey is the newest member of the Ellesmere College Swimming Academy and has been a full-time swimming coach for almost 10 years. Before that, he has swum within a performance pathway for 8 years, culminating at the high-performance centre in Swansea. He has experience of working at all levels within a club from entry level to performance. Swimmers under his tutelage boast achievements including county record holders, regional champions, and multiple national medallists. He has also played a part in the journey of a number of athletes who have gone onto international junior level.

He is a level 3 coach and graduated from Swansea University with a 2:1 BSc (Hons) Business Management.

Mikey has held many positions within Coach Development Pathways, these include West Midlands Regional Development Head Coach 2019 and 2020, National Development Skill Coach 2021 and 2022 and the 2020 National Pathway Coach Programme cohort.

He says of his coaching philosophy: "It's based around helping athletes on their journey to achieve things they thought weren't possible. To develop athletes as people to enable success in the pool long term but also to be successful in life. The athlete centric approach at Ellesmere College Swimming Academy is something we pride ourselves on and is aligned with my coaching approach. Making athletes feel valued, as well as being organised and structured are a few of my strengths as a coach. Here at Ellesmere College Swimming Academy, we have the resources, facilities and support to help athletes reach their potential."

Away from poolside, he is an avid Liverpool FC fan and follows a wide range of sports. He enjoys going on walks with his partner, cycling and quality time with his family.

Darren Ruff

Strength & Conditioning Coach

Darren has close to twenty years of experience in the Health and Fitness industry and currently leads the Strength and Conditioning programme at Ellesmere College. He provides support and education for many of the students, specifically focusing on those in the College's sporting academies.

A graduate of Staffordshire University in Sports and Exercise Science, Darren has further developed his skills gaining professional accreditations in the following areas:

Strength and Conditioning coaching
Youth Paediatric Strength and Conditioning
Level 3 Personal Training
National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) Performance Coach

Darren's coaching philosophy is to 'Educate, Engage and Enable' his students to become the best that they can be. He extends this to himself through continuing professional development in relevant areas and keeping up to date with current research in Sports and Exercise Science. His commitment and passion is evident in the sessions he runs, whether to a large group or on a one to one basis, each one is specially crafted to suit the ability and needs of the athletes in front of him.

I feel extremely fortunate and am privileged to work with so many talented individuals in a multitude of sports. From world class athletes competing at international level to weekend warriors facing their first park run. I support each of them through their journeys and tailor my sessions to meet their specific needs.

Away from my role at the College I spend much of my time ferrying my own children to various sporting activities and on the rare occasion I get a free weekend I enjoy playing golf and spending time with the family. I love all kinds of sports and am a big fan of Chelsea FC, the Chicago Bulls and the NFL LA Rams.