My name is George Williams and I joined SwimPath in November 2023. I have been a competitive swimmer for many years with Soundwell Swimming Club in Bristol and then Swansea University for 3 years training with some of the fastest swimmers in the country. I started at Soundwell when I was 9 years old and progressed over the years under several coaches culminating with 3 swims in my preferred backstroke events at British Championships in 2022. I have also raced at several English and Welsh National meets winning a silver medal at Welsh Nationals in 2019, Southwest Regional meets, and Gloucestershire County meets winning a handful of County Championship titles along the way both individually and as part of a relay team. I have since retired from competitive swimming and have done some coaching with Soundwell and am now working SwimPath.

Before working at SwimPath I was lucky enough to do some volunteering work in South Africa with a Charity called United Through Sport. I spent 8 weeks as a volunteer in 2022 and 5 months as a programme coordinator in 2023. United Through Sport uses sport as a tool to help kids develop holistically. Their education, their welfare and their overall health and wellness. Identifying kids' talent for sports allows them to access better schools and better educational opportunities and improve their overall life prospects. The charity goes to 4 schools a day and runs coaching sessions with hundreds of kids in a wide variety of sports including cricket, rugby, football, hockey, tennis, netball, basketball, dance, and perhaps most importantly, swimming. The swim programme is something I am particularly proud of. Giving nearly 100 kids the opportunity to have swimming lessons and learn water safety is priceless. Being a swimmer myself I took extra interest in this aspect of the charities programme.

SwimPath made a donation of swimming caps, swimsuits and goggles that provided the children with the necessary kit required for swimming lessons and learning water safety.

Volunteers come from all over the world, including The United States, The United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Weekend excursions organised by United Through Sport included safari, shark diving, bungee jumping and skydiving. This whole experience was incredible and something I will continue to be interested in and is something I would wholeheartedly recommend to young people wanting to do some travel and make a positive difference.

I am looking forward to working for SwimPath, growing the business and staying involved with the sport I love.