Paralympic gold-medal-winning coach Nick Thompson has been appointed to the role of Performance Centre Coach at the Aquatics GB Performance Centre Manchester.
Thompson – who coached William Ellard to a pair of Paralympic titles and a new Men’s S14 200m Freestyle world record at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games – will take up the role from 18th August with a specific responsibility for the World Class Para-swimming in the Manchester Performance Centre training environment.
With over a decade of experience as Head Coach at St Felix School, and in the past year as part of Norwich Swans Swimming Club’s coaching setup, Thompson has supported the journey of athletes through county, regional, national, and international competitions – additionally gaining exposure on Aquatics GB teams as part of the coaching staff at the 2024 World Para Swimming European Open Championships.
Working under the guidance of Manchester Performance Centre Lead Coach, Ryan Livingstone, and the Aquatics GB Para-swimming Leadership team, the role will embed Thompson as an integral part the Aquatics GB performance centre network which provides world-class, daily training environments for multiple athlete groups and the operates as inclusive performance hubs for national programme-wide activity involving all World Class Programme swimmers.
Speaking on his appointment, Thompson said:
“I am very excited at the opportunity to start my role at the Manchester Performance Centre this summer. I’m looking forward to working with the high calibre of athlete and staff in Manchester and across the world-class programme, and believe that I can help support them in their goals over the cycle into LA 2028 and beyond.
“It’s been wonderful to previously have an opportunity to meet lots the team at European Para Swimming Championships, World Series meets in Berlin and Barcelona and on Aquatics GB camps and I’m thoroughly looking forward to see what we can achieve together.”
Aquatics GB Performance Centre Manchester Lead Coach, Ryan Livingstone, added:
“Nick comes with a wealth of experience working in different coaching environments, has demonstrated a very high level of coaching knowledge and has vast experience of the paralympic swimming landscape.
“As with all of Performance Centre staff, Nick will be supported on his journey through targeted development opportunities designed to enhance his elite coaching practice.
“Nick will be become a vital part of the team at Manchester supporting all athletes within the programme, working alongside our high-performance sports science & sports medicine team to create a world class training environment for our resident Olympic/ Paralympic athletes and those who access the centre from the wider Aquatics GB network.”