Weston Swimming Club member Mike Coles has been sworn in as the new president of the Somerset Swimming Association.

MIKE Coles was sworn in as the new president of Somerset Amateur Swimming Association at the county’s AGM.

Mike, who is a life member of Weston Swimming Club and their club secretary for the last four years, is also a former chairman of the swimming club, as well as chief water polo coach.

He joined the club in 1960 at the age of just four years, and has swum competitively for the club, as well as the county, but his first love is water polo which he started playing at just 10 years old.

In the 1980s he moved into coaching, his first team was the Weston juniors and progressed on to coaching the newly-formed women’s team.

He also became involved in officiating as a referee, and is now a nationally recognised referee as well as an international table official, and is still involved with refereeing at all levels. In 2007 he was part of the officiating team for the European tournament held in Manchester Aquatics Centre.

He was selected to coach the Somerset County women’s team and took over as Somerset ASA’s water polo secretary and chief coach, taking on both junior, women’s and senior men’s sides for the county, as well as becoming chief coach of Weston, which at that time were competing in the Bristol and West Water Polo League and the National Water Polo League.

He further moved up the water polo ladder by representing Somerset on the Western Counties District committee. As well as this he had taken control of the Bristol and West Water Polo League as their secretary, and was responsible for the running of the league in 1983 and still holds that post.

Married, to Joy, and the father of two boys, Sean and Liam, both of whom play water polo, Sean for Bristol Central, who were British Champions in 2013, while Liam has represented Swindon in the National League, but is a stalwart of the Weston team.