ECSC Member History Feature No.2 - February

February's featured member of Exeter City Swimming Club is another long serving member of the club and well known figure in the Devon swimming world, Colin Trudgeon.

Colin arrived at the club back in 1985, so has been involved with us for 35 years! An impressive milestone in itself! Like many other people involved in the club and sport in general, it was Colin's Daughter's swimming that bought him to the club initially and like many others couldn't resist the pull of volunteering to help the club. This has led Colin to be a respected coach with the club for many years, as well as fulfilling a number of committee roles, including being a previous President of the club in recent times. Colin is also a well respected and committed swimming Referee and this is where he may be most familiar nowadays for our current crop of competitive swimmers.

Colin previously coached one of junior squads for over 12 years and has come back to coaching in recent years, helping to coach our junior squads again.

Colin recalls how many people have swam competitively for our club over the years and are now back with the club as their own children are now swimming with us. Again showing that not only is chlorine in the blood, but also in the genes! Colin says "All these people have motivated me to continue my involvement and I remain enthusiastic about swimming, by the people involved over the years and by the coaches involved, most certainly by our current head coach, Jo was an inspired appointment. Mostly though, my light has been lit by the swimmers, several generations now, who have passed through this gem of a club. Their enthusiasm is infectious and you want them to succeed, whatever that means to them. Their smiles and excitement are worth more than any other reward."

"Happy Birthday Exeter City Swimming Club, after 125 years you have more than fulfilled your task of promoting swimming in Exeter, yet to me you now feel like a club that is maturing into something that will produce success regularly at a high level, exactly what we set out to achieve 30+ years ago when I joined the club going through transition at that time".