It’s not often that Lido regulars are graced by the presence of greatness but, on the eve of returning to University in America, Guildford’s Marco Loughran took time to have one last training session in our Lido.
For those who don’t know him, Marco’s swimming career has seen him grow up through the ranks at Guildford City and become European Junior Champion on 100m Backstroke in 2007. Now 20 years old he is studying at the University of Florida and, after competing for Great Britain in the World Swimming Championships in Rome last month, he is returning to his studies and training on his journey to the 2012 Olympics.
Accompanied by proud dad Paul, Marco was able to take advantage of the Thursday evening lane swimming session and slipped, almost unnoticed, into the fast lane alongside a number of wetsuited swimmers who were slightly bemused to see the “official” GB swim hat cruising along beside them.
The temperatures in Florida support open-air training most of the year, but Marco assured me that the temperature in the Lido was “just fine, and this is a great place for training! I wish you all the best in your aims to make greater use of this pool”. We all wish him well and look forward to seeing him represent Wales in the 2010 Commonwealth Games as a first step in his 2012 goal.
