Meet our fantastic coaching team, led by GB Olympic Coach Lisa Bates
Lisa Bates
Director of Swimming and Head Coach
Main contact for: Senior Performance
Lisa is an experienced programme leader with exposure on GB International Teams, most recently Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 and Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022. She has coached a variety of International medalists and has a proven track record with the development of Age Group swimmers to senior level (Siobhan Marie O'Connor, Aimee Willmott, Sophie Taylor).
Lisa held a variety of high profile coaching jobs before joining CWSC, including Performance Programme Head Coach at the London Aquatic Centre (2014 to 2017), Director of Swimming at Middlesbrough ASC (2011 to 2014) and University of Bath Head Age Group/Youth Coach (2006 to 2011). Throughout this time Lisa has been part of the Team GB coaching team, working with International teams at a variety of training camps and competitions both at senior level, including three Olympic Games (London, Rio and Tokyo), and with Junior teams, most recently as Team GB Head Coach at the Junior European Championships in Belgrade in July 2023.
Lisa is very experienced across the whole Performance spectrum, in particular in integrating teams and streamlining processes and coaching methodology to deliver success.
Alexander MacDonald
Assistant Head Coach
Main contact for: Junior Performance and Gold Squad
Alexander has been involved with multi aspects of swimming and aquatics for the past 15 years, including competition management and organization, club management, officiating and coaching. He was previously a competitive swimmer himself in Canada and before this a competitive horseback rider.
Alexander has coached both within Canada and the UK and has seen swimmers achieve success from Age Group Level through to Elite. Previous to his work with Chelsea and Westminster, Alexander was the Assistant Head Coach of the London Aquatics Programme and has also worked with multiple clubs within the London region.
He holds the Canadian equivalent to the UK Senior coach (Level 3) and has also completed his Swim England Senior Coach Qualification (Level 3) since his time living in the UK. He is an accredited Swim England Tutor and actively delivers the Coach Qualification for Swim England and the Institute of Swimming across London, the South West and South East of the UK.
Alexander has a keen passion for travel and also volunteering especially at major events, including 2009 & 2013 Canada Games, 2016 LEN European Aquatics Championships, 2018 European Championships in Glasgow and 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Alexander is Chair of the Swim England London Swimming Committee.
Tony Cronin
Performance Coach and Head of Future Stars Programme
Main contact for: Future Stars Squads Programme
From an early age, Tony has been involved in sports such as Football, Rugby & Aquatics. This was until he injured his knee and had to take a step back from participating in sports competitively. Since his injury, Tony found ways to channel his love for sport and exercise by becoming an avid gym-goer and a swimming coach.
Tony has been coaching swimming for 7 years, having started out as a young volunteer at Hackney Aquatics Club in 2016, and worked his way up through the ranks to Head Coach. In that time he coached squads of all ages and abilities but his drive and competitive nature has led him to direct his career in coaching to the performance pathway. Even though Tony didn’t swim to a high level in his formative years, he's motivated to help others maximise their potential and get to the highest levels in Aquatics. He hopes to inspire more people from ethnic minority backgrounds to take part in the sport by breaking down barriers and challenging stereotypes.
Michele Negro
Head of CWSC Academy
Main contact for: Red Hats, Orange Hats, Yellow Hats, Blue Hats, Bronze and Silver Squads
Michele is from Salento, a land of unspoilt landscapes and wonderful sea, in the South of Italy. Maybe that is why he has been involved in swimming since he was a child. He loves water sports and is keen on free diving.
He has taken a master’s degree in History and Philosophy at the University of Bologna. He plays the bass guitar and has performed in clubs and festivals on many occasions. He has worked as a lifeguard and a swim teacher so far.
He has a natural communicative attitude which allows him to easily get in touch with people. He has drive and enthusiasm to make learning swimming pleasant and engaging. In his educational and working experiences he has acquired the capacity of being firm and assertive but patient and helpful as well.
He is a motivator and he constantly encourages learners to improve their skills and reach high stages of competence. He likes to give his contribution to help swimmers develop their potential and get the necessary confidence to achieve their goals.
Mitch Van Noort
Lead Physical Development Trainer and Performance Analyst
Working with Future Stars and Performance Squads
Reiss Ormonde-Cunningham
Performance Coach - Senior Performance & Future Stars North Lead
Nathan Joseph
Performance Coach & Head of Talent & Future Stars South Lead
Senior level, to compete at British, English and Welsh Nationals. Nathan has been a Development coach, Performance coach,
and Head of Development at Haringey Aquatics.
Alongside coaching, Nathan teaches swimming for schools in his local council, being able to identify swimmers with potential
and inviting them along to the competitive pathway.
Nathan has also been involved with Middlesex County and Regional Camps as a skills coach for numerous years.
Throughout his years of coaching, Nathan has and continues to treat swimmers as individuals, inspiring them on a daily basis
and encouraging them to grow holistically by adopting an athlete-centered approach to swimming development (LTAD) along
with the Optimal Athlete Development Framework (OADF) with the aim to maximise their potential.
Nathan teaches swimmers that to be successful, they must simply practise a few simple disciplines each day. He believes that if
something doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you, so he always encourages his swimmers to step out of their comfort
zone in order to make true progress. He is a firm believer that swimming can help with life skills such as self-discipline,
dedication, motivation and commitment.
Nathan enjoys playing competitive sports, listening to music and being social.
Alice Hatton
Development Coach & Future Stars Foundation Lead - Queen's Park
Alice first started coaching at Bedale Swimming Club in 2014 becoming the small club’s only coach, before joining Richmond Dales as Development Coach in 2018. She also worked as a Biomedical Scientist at two NHS trusts in the Midlands and is now undertaking a Masters in Paramedic Science within the London Ambulance Service.
She has held a qualification in Level 2 swimming teaching since 2018, with experience in developing teams of all ages and abilities including some previous work with Down Syndrome GB swimmers.
Anna Ochocinska
Development Coach & Future Stars Foundation Lead - Victoria
Anna has joined CWSC in 2011. She has has been involved in the sport since early age. She swam competitively for her home country, Poland, from 7 to 15 years old, taking part in national and international events. She has been a member of masters swimming club “Otter” since 2007. Anna holds a Master degree in Physical Education and ASA/UKCC Level 3 for Coaching Swimming.
Anna has 20 years experience teaching physical education and coaching swimming in both, Poland and the UK. She believes that being part of a swimming team, not only develops social skills, understanding of fair play but also gives a sense of achievement. She thinks that swimming prepares children for life, teaching them self-discipline, dedication and commitment.
Anna currently works full time in primary school in central London. Her interests include travel and photography. Her last year trip to Everest Base Camp, proved challenging, however very rewarding.
Yuriy Borak
Development Coach & Future Stars Foundation Lead - Kensington
A former swimmer at CWSC and member of the National Performance Squad, has swum competitively since he was 9. He competed on a national level with Lisa as his head coach, where his main events were the 50/100 free. He began coaching after finishing his A levels and is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in finance and management.
Yuriy only recently took a break from competitive swimming, but he enjoys coaching as it allows him to express his passion for swimming. Through coaching, he aims to help others achieve their goals, nurture their talents, and instil discipline, having seen the benefits of swimming for himself.
He hopes to return to competitive swimming soon, whilst coaching.
Drew Ross-Ashby
Performance Coach
After swimming Nationally in South Africa, Drew attained his coaching levels 1,2 and 3 in America (ASCA) making him CWSC’s 5th Level 3 coach!
Carrying a degree in Psychology and a Masters in Sport Psychology, Drew has applied his swimming and education skills across South Africa, most recently working at the Bond University Swim team. In 2011, Drew set up his own Swim School in South Africa called ACTIVE AQUATICS – a programme solely focused on skill development for swimmers aged 3 to adults and including open water and triathlete training. In 2014 Drew took a position at Grayston Prep school as their head of swimming, bringing his Active Aquatics programme to the school.
Since registering ACTIVE AQUATICS, Drew had 14 swimmers (aged 7 to 16) compete in Central Gauteng Aquatics (CGA) Regional competitions and Age Group Nationals with the team achieving Swimming South Africa (SSA) Level 1, Level 2, and level 3 qualifying times and one swimmer qualifying and swimming at SSA open water nationals earlier in Olympic year (2016). Derew’s swimmers have broken CGA championship records and qualified for both Junior and Youth Nationals. One of Drew’s para-swimmers qualified for senior nationals, where she won 1 Gold, 2 Silvers and a bronze medal.
Drew has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the development of Age Group swimmers into National standard swimmers.
Mario Negro
Development Coach
Mario is from Salento in the south of Italy. He has been involved in swimming since he was a child. He loves water sports and is keen on windsurfing and sailing.
He has taken a degree in DAMS- Drama, Art, Music Studies and Cinema at the University of Bologna. In his free time he plays the guitar and has performed in clubs and festivals with his band on many occasions.
Mario is a very experienced lifeguard and swim teacher. He is easygoing and very good with people. He is able to provide a warm and friendly learning atmosphere and instruct a motivating, informative and safe swim lesson for both youth and adult participants. He is good at engaging swimmers and ensuring proper exercise and swimming techniques.
He is patient and assertive. He is able to make decisions quickly, acknowledge difficult situations and respond accordingly. He has high expectations about his swimmers.
Mario constantly motivates and encourages swimmers to improve their performances and develop their true potential.
Lianne Murphy
Development Coach
Lianne has been involved in club swimming in central London for many years with both the old Westminster Borough Squad and the Chelsea and Kensington SC. She was a National level Synchronized swimmer in her youth and currently plays a vital role in the club, providing all the ground rules of technique to the young developing competitive swimmers.
Lianne also teaches swimming with various schools around London and is the mother of two former members of the club.
Maria Poulou
Development Coach
My name is Maria Poulou and I come from Greece. I studied physical education and sports science and I got specialised in swimming. I have my Level 2 swimming qualification and lifesaving certificate. I used to be a profesional swimmer back home and for the last 13 year I have been working as a swimming coach in various swimming clubs in Greece and I have been involved in other aspects of swimming including officiating and management. At the moment I work as a PE teacher in a primary school in London and after a small break from coaching due to Covid I am looking forward to getting involved with my greatest passion again, swimming. I love reading books and learning foreign languages and I have a passion for travelling and meeting new places.
Felipe Guioti
Development Coach
Born in Brazil, Felipe has had a passion for aquatics since childhood, swimming competitively throughout his formative years. He now finds coaching others greatly satisfying and prides himself on providing a high-standard service for all ages and abilities.
Ivanky Rodriguez
Development Coach
Ivanky is an Assistant Coach. He was born in Havanna, Cuba and started swimming at a very young age.
Clara Gelera
Development Coach
Massimo Catucci
Development Coach
Massimo joined CWSC in 2021.He started swimming at an early age and swiftly progressed to regional and national competitions in Italy, his country of origin.
In his adult years he has been competing at a masters level, often participating in open waters competitions spanning 3 to 5 km kilometers .
Massimo enjoys to assist young swimmers in unlocking their full potential, whether it’s within a club setting or through one-on-one sessions.
He dedicates himself in refining their technique and guiding them through each stage of their development journey.
William Rudd
Development Coach
Jonny Rudd
Development Coach
Emma Bhugun
Development Coach
Matias Beltran
Development Coach
Naomi Takea
Development Coach
