Ex-Olympic coach offers Derventio a steady hand on the tiller

KEITH Bewley has been chosen as the man to guide Derventio eXcel through a transitional period in the club's development.

The former Swim Ireland chief coach will be at the helm of the elite Derbyshire squad for the next three months until a permanent appointment is made.

He takes over from Mark Rose, whose six years as chief coach came to end earlier this month, when he took up a position to lead Manchester Aquatics.

Bewley, a former Commonwealth Games medallist, left Swim Ireland late last year when the organisation was restructured.

He was poolside at the Beijing Olympics, his last major competition with the Irish squad.

Although acting in a caretaker role, the 61-year-old believes he can maintain Derventio's momentum until a permanent appointment is made.

And he has been impressed with both the quality and commitment of the squad.

He said: "They are a super bunch of swimmers. They all work hard, turn up to the sessions on time and I am very happy with them.

"It is a matter of keeping the club steady. My arrival means they will not have a gap without a coach until a new one is appointed and I'm happy that it will go well.

"I have got plenty to work with and, hopefully, I can keep them on the right track for the big events later in the year, starting with the British Championships in the middle of March."

Before moving to Ireland, where he was instrumental in setting up the country's centre of excellence in Limerick, Bewley was coach of Wigan Wasps, one of strongest clubs in Britain during his 27 years at the helm.

He has also worked with the British team at training camps and in competitions and was chief coach to the British youth distance group at their training camp.

Bewley has a proven track record in Olympic swimming success, having coached June Croft and Anne Osgerby to silver and bronze respectively in Los Angeles in 1984.

More recently he coached Rachel Corner to European Championship bronze in the 400m individual medley.

Bewley's own swimming career began in Bootle before he moved to the City of Southampton. He won individual bronze in the 110 yards butterfly at the Commonwealth Games in Jamaica in 1966 and also gained a silver in the 4x110 yards medley relay as well as bronze in the 4x220 yards freestyle relay.

He added: "I was very happy during my time at Wigan. It was one of the first places to appoint a professional coach and we had quite a lot of success but one of the main reasons for leaving was that they were closing their 50m pool.

"I moved to Ireland, where I was head coach and was involved in setting up their performance centre in Limerick and running their training camps.

"My contract came to an end last year and they were looking for a performance director, which was more of an office job. I don't think they could afford to have a chief coach and a performance director.

"The Derventio job came up but my wife has just accepted a new job in Galway and although we did think about a move, we decided that we would stay in Ireland.

"In the meantime, though, I'm more than happy to help out until the club can appoint a full-time coach."

Assistant coach Simon Ferarrelli, who has been responsible for of Derventio's northern squad, is also to leave the club. He is to take up a role as chief age group coach at City of Manchester.