As we chat in a small room next to the Life Centre’s 50-metre pool, it is clear Chris feels at home here. That is probably just as well given he spends 27 hours a week coaching his swimmers, not to mention the hours of planning and preparation. But the water has always been a big part of Chris’s life. His mum tells stories of how, while working as a teacher, she would bring him along to school swimming sessions. As the children were getting ready to swim he would join them, running along the poolside and jumping in the deep end. He was 18 months old.
In spite of that, his path to swimming is not a wholly conventional one. During his teenage years, he swam and played water polo at a regional standard. He also played tennis at the national college championships. It was only aged 17 that he decided to focus on the pool. He obviously had no idea at that point, but it is a decision that has ultimately changed his life.
Just over a year after taking that literal plunge, it is July 2012. Chris is on holiday with his family in France. Like millions worldwide, he is keeping a keen eye to the London Olympics. At around 7.30pm on the Games’ first Monday, he is watching the swimming finals. Given his passion for the sport it is perhaps no surprise, but there is one swimmer he is focussed on.
At the age of just 15, Lithuanian swimmer Rūta Meilutytė storms to gold in the women’s 100-metre breaststroke final. Until that point few people had heard of her, but Chris is one of the exceptions. In fact, he had swum with her just two weeks previously.