A swim coach in Bromley has spoken or her excitement and pride at watching one of her former pupils go on to win Olympic Gold at this year's Tokyo Olympics.
Angela Wilson runs a swim school across south London and north Kent, plus other locations, and couldn't contain her excitement as she watched Joe Choong win gold in the men's Modern Pentathlon last week.
Joseph Choong is a an Orpington-born Modern Pentathlon athlete, and the 26-year-old topped the field at this year's field at the 2020 summer Olympic Games.
Angela said Joe started swimming lessons at her school at just 10 months old, and swim with the club for 10 years.
She said he showed his swimming prowess from a "very young age", earning his 100m swimming distance award when he was just five.
And then even when he was swimming at a national level 10 years later, Joe returned to the swim school for some technique coaching.
The Modern Pentathlon is a multi-discipline event, meaning the competitors compete in free-style swimming, épée fencing, freestyle show jumping and a final combined event of pistol shooting and cross country running.
The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the ancient Olympics, and in August 2020, Choong took gold in the event, the first ever gold for a British man in modern pentathlon.
Angela said: "One of the most exciting parts of running a swim school is seeing young people flourish into strong, confident swimmers.
"We hope seeing Joe become such an outstanding athlete will inspire many more children to join us for lessons and perhaps even choose to follow a career in swimming too.”
'Angela's Swim School' began with her as one instructor in one pool in 2002, but has since grown, with around 3,500 swimmers now coming each week for term-time lessons with over 100 instructors in 20 locations across Essex, Kent, Surrey, Sussex and London
Angela encourages all her learners through the Swimstylers, characters she’s created to inspire children to follow her 6 Ds of learning to swim: Development, Discipline, Drive, Determination, Dedication and Dream.
“Swimming teaches you so much about yourself, whether you’re going for gold or to be the best you can be.”
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