Jonathan's just the lad in swimming
Jonathan Orchard has recently made a name for himself as a very talented young swimmer with a gold medal at the Summer Championships in Swansea but he is also a very adept all-rounder who enjoys skiing, kayaking and octopush.
Two years ago he won three gold medals at the same championships and went even better this year as he not only joined Mikey Hire, Dan Thomas and Sam Withers in breaking the meet's 4x50m medley relay but he also starred as an individual. Jonathan won gold medals at 400m, and 1500m freestyle, as well as 100m and 200m backstroke, plus the 200 metres butterfly.
Outside of his superb swimming, Jonathan loves skiing and after about ten visits to various countries to hone his skills he is now more than just a novice on the piste. Then as a member of Pembrokeshire Paddlers he uses the lovely waters around our coast to kayak – and plays Octopush (which is a strenuous form of underwater hockey) with the under 16 team that is coached by Tim Dyson at Pembroke Leisure Centre.
But it is swimming that inevitably takes up much of Jonathan's spare time outside his GCSE studies, ably supported by parents Gill and Julian, with many hours of practice in the pool each week under the watchful eye of Paul Dowey, the swimming coach for the Pembrokeshire Elite Swimming Squad, Phill Thomas and Chris Davies. He travels to Haverfordwest every Monday and Wednesday mornings for a very early session and also attends every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evening, plus from 7-9am on Saturdays! It means total dedication to the cause but he is at least lucky that he shares lifts with Dan and Cerys Thomas.
Jonathan learned to swim as a six year old and by the time he was nine he was swimming competitively so that he has gained loads of medals in the intervening years. But now he has progressed to being a Welsh representative and there is no doubt that all the hard work is paying off. PembrokeshireSport.co.uk was delighted to hear about his prowess and we wish Jonathan Orchard all the very best for a swimming future which looks very bright indeed!
PHOTOS:
Jonathan Orchard proudly displays some of his medals
Jonathan with team mates Mikey Hire, Dan Thomas and Sam Withers