A swimming coach from Haddenham is celebrating after scooping the Coach of the Year award at the annual Living Sport Awards.

Laura Bevis was presented with the accolade at the awards ceremony held in Huntingdon last Thursday.

Living Sport recognises and celebrates the achievements of talented sportsmen and women, coaches, volunteers, organisations and clubs from across Cambridgeshire, and the 20-year-old won the award for her hard work and committment to swimming, where she has supported young swimmers for over six years.

Laura began her coaching career when she was 14-years-old at March Marlins Swimming Club, where she helped younger swimmers.

After gaining her teaching certificate at the age of 16, she gained part time jobs in coaching at Bottisham Swimming Club and City of Cambridge Swimming Club, where she also swam.

Laure then went on to gain her coaching qualifications and her level two teaching swimming qualification.

When she was 18 she went to study an Integrated Masters Degree in Natural Science at the University of East Anglia, where she joined the swim team and started volunteering with UEA City of Norwich Swimming Club.

She then gained the position of County Youth Squad Coach, where she saw one of her disability swimmers gain qualifying times and then secure a medal at the Regional Championships in May.

In July, Laura’s coaching saw her swimmer then go on to gain National qualification time in the MC 200 freestyle and reached the final.

Laura now has more swimmers who have qualified for events at the Winter Regional Short Course Championships.

Laura is also a cover coach for the National Squads, and has just been picked to be part of a year-long swimming coach development program.

Whilst at home in the summer holidays she teaches at local swim schools; Ely’s SLM Leisure and Seahorses Swim School and Seals Swimming and Elite Swim Academy in Cambridge, where she enjoys helping younger developing swimmers to learn effective strokes by using her coaching experience.

Laura has big aspirations for the future, and says she is looking forward to training up-and-coming swimmers.

She said: “I am really pleased to have won the award, both me and my swimmers have been working very hard over the last few years and at times it has been tough alongside my degree. I am looking forward to continue to work with my disability swimmers to give them more exciting opportunities and increase their racing skills next year.

“I will also be working with my mainstream swimmers to get some County qualifying times up to January, and will then be upping the workload to prepare for meets throughout the year, ready to get County qualifying times for 2017,” she added.