Meet the SSC Coaching Team
Matt Kelly
Assistant Head Coach - Swimming
Matt has been a volunteer coach at Solihull for a number of years and is a qualified Level 2 coach.
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Both of Matt's sons trained with Solihull and went on to train with City of Birmingham swimming club. He became involved whilst his sons swam with us and has continued to coach even though his sons have now have finished their swimming careers.
Matt particularly enjoys bringing on our young swimmers in the development squads, ready to compete in their first meets. He regularly attends as Coach at the Junior League and open meets where he supports our junior swimmers competing for the first time, taking the skills he has taught them in training into a racing environment.
Martin Hitchman
Coach - Swimming
Martin is a volunteer, and is currently working towards his level 1 Coach qualification. He became involved with the club as an official and is a qualified Level 2 Judge, helping at many open meets including our club championships.
Martin coaches a wide range of swimmers across various squads, from our performance squads to Junior and Senior Club. He makes sure his sessions push all the members so they can achieve their personal goals. This is always done with a smile on his face making him a popular coach and his sessions are always busy.
Martin has two Children that still compete for us and he also trained with our masters squad. If he is not poolside coaching or officiating you may well will find him on the golf course.
Niamh Barguss
Head of Teaching - Swimming
Niamh is a Level 2 qualified swimming teacher and Head of Teaching on Friday nights at Tudor Grange.
Niamh has been a member of SSC since she was 4 years old, joining our teaching lessons and remaining a competitive swimmer in our Racing squad till she was 13 years old. She swam on our Junior and Mercian League teams during her time swimming. At 12 Niamh started to play water polo at Solihull. As a junior she represented West Midlands and still trains 4 times a week with Solihull and is part of our ladies' team, competing on their National League and Midlands League Teams.
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Niamh started volunteering in the teaching classes when she was 12 and started working as an assistant swim teacher at 14. When she was 16 she took her Level 1 and 2 Teaching exams and continues to work for two swim schools as a qualified teacher. Niamh supports the assessments of swimmers, the structure of the lessons, movements between stages and the support of our young teachers.
Beth Goucher
Head of Teaching - Swimming
Beth is a Level 2 qualified swimming teacher and Head of Teaching on Sunday nights at Tudor Grange.
Beth has been a member of Solihull Swimming Club since 1988 when she joined the club as a junior swimmer. She went on to swim for both Solihull and City of Birmingham and competed in water polo for Solihull and the West Midlands. She now has 3 children swimming and playing water polo with Solihull and is a familiar face of the club.
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Beth started teaching at 15 years old and now leads our teaching provision on Sunday nights where she is responsible for our entry trials. Beth often provides coaching support cross all our competitive squads. As well as her teaching qualifications, she is a Level 2 Triathlon Coach making her very popular with our senior swimming squads!
Hannah Hinton
Head Coach - Water Polo
Hannah is the Head Coach of our Water Polo section.
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Hannah has been a member of the club since she was very young, first swimming and then transferring to water polo. She has a wealth of experience as a player and a coach.
Phil Powell
Coach - Water Polo
Phil Powell is an Honorary Member of the Club , this is due to his dedication to the Water Polo section over many years and achieving the Men's National Championships. Phil has coached players to achieve places in Great Britain National Teams.
Ian Jolly, Dave Turpin, Georgina Patterson
Assistant Coaches - Water Polo
The club is very lucky to have 3 water polo coaches that support our Head Coach Hannah.
Matt Hunt
Coach - Swimming
Matt is one of the latest additions to our swimming coaching team, training towards his Level 1. Matt is a primary school teacher and has previously taught swimming. As a youth he swam for Bromsgrove and continued swimming for his university. His favourite stroke is fly and his longest open water swim was Lake Windermere at 10.5 miles!
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Matt now has 3 children swimming with SSC.