News - 2009 Gibbons

Gibbons Returns to Maxwell

Craig Gibbons, one of Maxwell's most successful swimmers has returned to training at Maxwell in a full time capacity within the Performance Squad.

Craig first joined Maxwell at the age of 8 and remained at the club till he reached 18. The last five years have seen Craig train at 2 high performance centres, Swansea and more recently Loughbrough. During those years he always remained a member of Maxwell and returned home to train during the holidays with Kevin and the Maxwell Squad.

Moving back to Maxwell under the direction of GB Coach Kevin Brooks is the most viable option for Craig in his quest for Olympic qualification in London 2012. Maxwell has all the training time, land training facilities and physiotherapy support to accommodate a swimmer of Craig's calibre. Gibbons will be training along side Maxwell's other Internationals, Hannah Askew & Steve Slee who are also 50 & 100 Sprinters.

Craig said of his move "Kev and I have always had a strong working relationship and he has be there through every period of my swimming career and knows exactly what works and what doesn't work for me. It's an exciting new chapter in my life and the most important thing is that I enjoy swimming at Maxwell and have a good support network around me"

Only last month Craig broke the British Short Course Record for the 100 Free in a time of 47.33 and is currently ranked within the top four sprinters (50 & 100 Free Long & Short Course) in the Country.

Head Coach Kevin Brooks added, "I've predicted for a while that Craig might return full time to Maxwell and now more than ever is the best time for him to do so. Everything at Maxwell is really starting to step up as we enter into my next 5 year plan for the club. The club has almost doubled in size in recent years and has access to superb training facilities at the Aqua Vale".

Kevin goes on to say, "We're already in the quadrennium (4 year cycle to the Olympics) and we have exactly 2 years & 7 months to get Craig to London 2012. It's going to be all about getting it just right at the Olympic Trials, likely to be in March 2012, and then if he makes it, seeing it through to London!"