WHEN you are a swimmer preparing for your first Olympic Games, it can be really helpful to get some advice from a former Olympic swimmer, writes Chris Roberts. 

Last weekend, Fairford’s Alex Cohoon met up with Olympic silver/gold medallist and former Fairford resident, Sharron Davies MBE to discuss the forthcoming 2024 Paris Olympics.

Alex will be representing GB in the Men’s 4 x 100m Freestyle team alongside Tom Dean, Matthew Richards and Duncan Scott, whilst Sharron will be commentating poolside for the BBC.

Sharron was just 13 years old when she first swam for GB in the Montreal Olympics in 1976 and took a silver medal in the 400m individual medley at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.

The gold medal winner was later found to have used performance-enhancing drugs.

Sharron has attended 12 consecutive Olympic Games, competing in three of them over three decades – 1970s, 1980s and 1990s – and then working in the media for BBC Sport.

When asked what advice she could give Alex, Sharron replied: “He doesn’t need any advice or training tips.

"He escaped from a career in rugby to become a swimmer, and the sport of swimming is in a good place at the moment – both nationally and internationally.

"There was a good selection process for choosing the 2024 Olympic swimmers and the right people got chosen.”

Sharron and Alex met up at Lucknam Park Hotel and Spa to chat about their experiences of competitive swimming.

They also commented on what a small world it was, as Sharron mentioned that several years ago, Alex’s father, Craig taught Sharron to water-ski!

Next time Sharron and Alex will meet up will be in Paris when Alex is competing with Team GB and Sharron will be commentating for the BBC.