Glenn was appointed as our Director of Swimming in January 2026, having previously been our Head Coach.
Glenn has been involved with swimming since the age of 5 years old, swimming competitively and representing Derbyshire at the Inter-County Championships. His attention turned to coaching, and he joined Derventio Excel in 2021, and before that was Head Coach at Ripley Rascals for 10 years. In his time there, he gained a wealth of experience coaching swimmers of all ages. He was fundamental to the development of many Derbyshire swimmers, including Olympian Jacob Whittle.
Glenn has coached swimmers at a young age group level to be the fastest in Britain at certain events and coached to a Regional and National level of competition.
Glenn comments: “I enjoy seeing swimmers develop from their early competitive swimming journey and encourage swimmers to be the best they can technically with their individual strokes, turns, starts and initial race skills and tactics”.
Having dedicated more than eight years to competitive swimming, Olly developed a genuine and lasting passion for the sport. This led him to transition into coaching to inspire and guide the next generation of swimmers on their own journeys in the sport.
Olly began his coaching career at Long Eaton Swimming Club, at the age of 17, where he built his skills and confidence, eventually becoming Head Coach of his childhood club in 2023. In this role, he focused on strengthening the club’s culture, growing participation, and elevating performance at every level, empowering swimmers to reach their full potential both in and out of the pool.
Olly began his coaching career at Long Eaton Swimming Club, at the age of 17, where he built his skills and confidence, eventually becoming Head Coach of his childhood club in 2023. In this role, he focused on strengthening the club’s culture, growing participation, and elevating performance at every level, empowering swimmers to reach their full potential both in and out of the pool.
Lead coach for Regional Squad and Age Group Squad.
David started coaching at Derby Excel in 2023, having coached for a long time, since about 1998 with Derby Phoenix when his daughters swam there, and subsequently becoming head coach in 2012.
Over the years, he gained a lot of experience and had the opportunity to coach some talented swimmers onto the Derventio Excel Pathway and England Triathlon Talent Squads.
Some of his highlights are to have coached swimmers from Stage 5 to the British and English National Championships and an England Masters Champion.
Additionally, he has experience coaching para-swimming after helping Eleanor Simmons transition into competitive swimming before the Beijing Olympics and led to the privilege of coaching at Para-swimming England talent camps.
Lead coach for Masters
Jamie started with City of Derby aged 9 years old and 20 years later is still here! Having hung up his goggles aged 18, he transitioned into lifeguarding and later coaching. He has coached squads of all ages during his decade of coaching - from those new to swimming through to competitive swimmers at Regional and National level.
In more recent years, he has had the fortune to gain new experiences working with Para swimmers and returning to one of his passions: Masters swimming. Jamie says: “I am proud to coach one of the biggest and fastest growing Masters squads in the county as we grow to bigger and better things - with swimmers of all ages and abilities. I thrive on the challenge of getting everyone to their 'own Olympics'!”
Keith has been coaching for many years within the county. He started at Trident where he assisted the head coaches in moving the club forward to become a force, not only within the local area but Regionally – and then Nationally as the programme developed.
His input with the squad members was instrumental in the success of a generation of swimmers from Long Eaton who moved on to National honours. He was part of the coaching team at Long Eaton SC that formed from the merger of Trident & Treonte Swimming clubs in the town.
He then moved in early 2007 to Derventio and has had similar impact whilst coaching at the Derby based squad.
His vision along with his work ethic has helped to empower swimmers within the team to keep making forward strides.
Oli swam for Derventio Excel from 2016 to 2020, before leaving to study at Loughborough University. Once there, he began coaching and assisting with the University Performance squads, where he worked with high level National and International swimmers. Alongside this, he coached at Long Eaton, developing young County level swimmers.
In 2019, Oli joined Winchester as a Lead Squad coach, primarily to bridge the gap between Age Group swimming and Performance swimming. Whilst there, he developed swimmers from County standard through to Regional medalists and National qualifiers, as well as assisting the top groups, developing swimmers to International level.
Throughout his coaching career, he has been fortunate to work with senior coaches including Andi Manley (who was previously a Derventio Excel Head coach), Ian Hulme, Ian Armiger and Zoe Baker, and has been able to learn and develop under expert guidance.
Becky started helping out at swimming lessons at age 14, and saw a different side to swimming which she loved and has never stopped since. She gained her Level 1 & 2 teaching, and Level 1 coaching. She joined Derby Excel in 2023.
Charlie is a former national swimmer now coaching at Derby Excel Swim Club. He enjoys helping swimmers build solid technique, gain confidence, and enjoy the sport, whether they are just getting started or pushing for the next level.
Lead coach for Academy, Pre-Academy, Junior Academy and Ignite squads.
Grace has been part of Derby Excel for 10 years competing at a national level and still swims in the masters squad. She has been teaching and coaching swimming since 2022 and hopes to inspire younger swimmers to take their swimming to the next level.
Lead coach Excel squad
Amr has been involved in competitive swimming for over 12 years, having swum at club and national level in Egypt before moving to the UK. He joined Derby Excel as a swimmer in September 2023 and has since continued developing both in the pool and as part of the coaching team.
He has a strong technical understanding of stroke mechanics and training discipline. His focus is on helping swimmers build solid technique, confidence, and race skills, particularly in butterfly and individual medley, drawing from his own racing experience.
He believes swimming should always be driven by love and passion before competition. He aims to create an environment where swimmers enjoy learning through fun, engaging, and positive sessions—bringing energy, humour, and connection into every lane.
