REPTON APPOINTS CRAIG PRIME AS DIRECTOR OF SWIMMING FOR REPTON SCHOOL AND REPTON SWIMMING CLUB
Craig Prime has been appointed as Director of Swimming in recognition of his role in building Repton’s swimming programme into national champions. Under his leadership, Repton swimmers have earned international call-ups, set junior and national records, and won medals at major global competitions.
Craig joined Repton as Performance Coach in September 2022 and has become central to everything the programme has achieved, developing a new culture and a generation of Repton swimmers that have gone from promising to podium regulars. With British medallists, national age group record holders, and international athletes and medallists, amongst the current and historic cohort, Craig’s role in Repton Swimming has been instrumental. In recognition of his role in the success of Repton Swimming, he was selected to join the Aquatics GB Coaching Team for this year's European Junior Swimming Championships, and was appointed to the Team GB coaching team for the 2025 European Youth Olympic Festival.
In March 2026, Repton was crowned National Arena Swimming League champions, winning a competition contested by around 400 clubs at a National Final held at Sandwell Aquatics Centre, the aquatics venue for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Repton became just the 18th club to win the competition in more than 55 years, completing a climb from fourth in 2024, and second in 2025. For a programme established only in 2020, it was a remarkable milestone, and Craig was pivotal to that success.
This was followed by the most significant summer in the club's history. Starting at the Aquatics GB Next Gen Championships in Sheffield, Repton's 36 swimmers returned with 48 medals and 86 finals appearances, including double gold for the women's relay team and the school's first men's relay medals, with Craig being named the British Swimming Coaches Association's Coach of the Day. From there, ten of Repton swimmers were called up to represent their countries at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the European Aquatics Championships in Paris, the Asian Games, and the European Junior Championships.
Repton's Director of Sport, Gareth James, said:
"Craig has been at the heart of everything Repton Swimming has achieved. So many of the swimmers who won the Arena League and pulled on international kit this summer have come through his squad, and they trust him completely. He combines real pedigree at national and international level with a genuine care for every young person in his charge.
Craig has built an environment like no other: swimmers, parents, and colleagues describe him as a coach who knows every athlete as an individual, who is as invested in their wellbeing and their studies as in their times, and whose energy on poolside sets the tone for the whole squad. There is no one better placed to lead us going forward."
The current Repton squad is a hotbed of talent and includes multiple National and International junior record holders. They follow a long list of international swimmers, including Team England’s four-time silver medallist from the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Jacob Mills, bronze medallist, Imogen Clark, and double bronze medallist, Harry Milne. They form an esteemed list of Repton Swimmers which includes Olympians Adam Ramsay-Peaty OBE, Eva Okaro, and Paralympian Megan Neave who have all been through the programme during Craig’s time.
Before Repton, Craig spent ten years as Head Coach of Wrexham Swimming Club in North Wales, part of a coaching career that spans more than fifteen years, having started at City of Peterborough, with spells at Dane Valley and City of Chester.
Craig commented on his recent appointment:
“I'm incredibly proud to take on the role of Director of Swimming at Repton. Seeing swimmers I've coached since they were twelve or thirteen win the Arena League and then represent their countries this summer has been the proudest moment of my career, and it's a credit to them, their families and a brilliant coaching team. My focus is on building from that platform, continuing to raise our standards, develop our coaches and make sure every swimmer, from our youngest age group to our internationals, have the environment and support to reach their potential. It's not what we do, it's how we do it, and I can't wait to get started."
Martin Pallot, Chair of Repton Swimming Club, said:
"Since the club was founded, Repton swimming has grown into something genuinely special, with competitive culture and environment at the very heart of all we do. This summer showed how far this club has come and Craig’s role within that is significant. Behind those results is a real performance environment, where young people are pushed hard in the pool and supported just as seriously beyond it. Craig understands that balance better than anyone, and the respect our swimmers already have for him is the strongest endorsement he could have. I am delighted he will lead the programme into the next chapter."
