COACHES

Head Coach Gordon Rea coaches our National Squad and provides the direction for the whole club. Prior to joining RDASC in June 2022, Gordon was Assistant Head Coach at Exeter Swimming Club.

Before getting into coaching, Gordon enjoyed a varied and fulfilling career. From being a very successful age group swimmer himself, Gordon spent 30 years in the Police Force, during which time he also coached part time at a variety of North East regional clubs.

Upon retiring from the Police, Gordon was able to pursue his passion full time and became Head Coach at Hartlepool ASC.  From here, Gordon gained further experience at City of Sunderland and City of Newcastle swim clubs and was instrumental in creating what is now Newcastle Swim Team, where he was Head Coach for a time. Gordon has also coached abroad in Spain, where he worked with the Gibraltar ASA. 

Keith coaches our County squad as well as the Masters (competitive) squad and is also one of our Para squad coaches. Keith has been coaching for over 8 years, before which he was a qualified swimming official and is also a qualified swimming teacher.

Keith is also the Head Coach of the Down syndrome - GB swimming squad and, along with his team, has led them to becoming both European Champions in 2018 and World Champions in 2022.

Keith is also the Lead Coach for para swimming in the North East region working closely with Swim England North East regional office to ensure the para swimming camps are planned and delivered to maximise the potential of the NE para swimmers. 

Keith is also the Lead Coach for our partner club, The Teesdale Tigersharks, who swim out of Barnard Castle. This is an effective collaboration, allowing swimmers from both clubs to benefit from opportunities available within the partnership.