Emma Hirst has been appointed as the sole head coach of Swim Bournemouth after a year of shared duties with Sam Woodward.

The pair, who were respectively head coaches of Ferndown Otters and Bournemouth Dolphins before the clubs merged towards the end of last year, came up with the new arrangement themselves following “amicable discussions”.

Woodward now becomes assistant coach with Mark Corben and Jackie Simpson respectively continuing as age group coaches in the club’s Bournemouth and Ferndown hubs.

Hirst, 30, whose career highlight as a Ferndown swimmer was two Commonwealth Games swims for her native Jersey in 2002, said: “Sam and I had amicable discussions and we both felt this was the way forward for the next stage of Swim Bournemouth’s development. We put the proposal to the committee and they agreed.”

Hirst has 12 years’ coaching experience and was centrally involved with Ferndown’s title-winning Southern Junior League teams before the merger.

She takes over at a time of fierce competition from west and east with Poole hitting new heights under coach Robin Armayan and Seagulls boosted by the arrival of seven or eight swimmers and coach Zoe Baker through the link-up with Bournemouth Collegiate School’s new swimming academy.

Hirst said: “It’s always been a competitive area but competition just makes everyone raise the bar.

“This is a fantastic opportunity and we will focus on strengthening and rebuilding over the next few years.”

Meanwhile, Corben and Hirst’s predecessor as Otters’ head coach, Tony Watson, have both been honoured in the South West ASA’s regional coaching awards.

Corben was named Young Coach of the Year.

Watson, head coach of Ferndown from 1986-2010, received the Lifelong Coaching Achievement Award recognising an “entire lifetime devoted to coaching, sport and the development of athletes”.

The citation for Watson says he was not only Dorset’s longest-serving coach but also the “most consistently successful, having taken Otters to 23 Western League finals in 24 years and nine Southern Junior League titles in 21 years”.

He also coached more than 20 swimmers to junior or senior international level, most notably Karen Legg, who won seven Commonwealth Games medals in 1998 and 2002 and in 2000 became Dorset’s first Olympic swimmer.

In 2003 Ferndown had two swimmers in the same world championship final as Legg and Alex Savage made up 50 per cent of Britain’s medley relay team in Barcelona.

Watson, who was Dorset’s Male Sports Coach of the Year in 1998 and runner-up the following year, has also mentored many other young coaches.

“Tony has given a lifetime of commitment to swimming and coaching and is a role model for all young coaches aspiring to progress through a similar career,” adds the citation.

Corben joined Bournemouth Dolphins in 2009 to coach their novice, club and masters squads and was promoted to age group coach for the 2010-11 season.

“In only his first season in this role he coached 10 swimmers to regional qualification and two to national age groups,” says the citation.

“He was involved in the successful merger of Dolphins and Otters as Swim Bournemouth.

“He has also excelled in his professional development, continuously looking for new ways to learn and develop and as a result was selected this year for the regional level 3 coach development programme.”

Corben is described as a “significant team player, always professional” and “highly thought of by his swimmers”.

“This young coach is certainly on his way to a lifelong involvement and career in swimming and sport and he has gone above and beyond to support swimming in Bournemouth, Dorset and the South West region,” the citation adds.