A PREP school’s links with Swim Bournemouth are being strengthened following the appointment of a former international swimmer and coach as assistant head and director of sport.

Nick Robinson, who represented Great Britain in World Cup events during his days as a Portsmouth Northsea freestyler in the 1980s, is keen to develop a swimming pathway for pupils of Castle Court School.

The Corfe Mullen school’s youngest pupils already have regular swimming sessions at Canford School while their development and endurance squads train at Canford with Swim Bournemouth head coach Emma Hirst.

Robinson said: “We have managed to tighten the link so they can actually join Swim Bournemouth as a competitive outlet. At that point they move into the advanced squad and are training to make the jump to a performance squad.

“I think it’s important that we have a pathway where they can move onwards. Swimming, biathlon and triathlon are some of the things we really want to focus on in terms of participation and excellence.”

He added: “We will also do all we can to support the academic side – for example, by providing facilities for pupils to do their homework during the school day.

“We are about to launch a virtual learning environment. If a swimmer is away at a competition, everything they would have had lesson-wise on that day can be logged in over the weekend and they can access the work.”

Robinson joins Castle Court School from Kelly College in Devon, where he held a similar position.

He has an impressive coaching CV that includes coach to the Zimbabwe national team from 1990-92 and 1995-96, age group coach with Portsmouth Northsea from 1992-95, director of swimming with City of Milton Keynes from 1996-99 and British Swimming performance coach at Portsmouth from 1999-2002, when he also coached for Britain at the European Junior Championships and the European Youth Olympic Festival.

His charges at Portsmouth included European junior champions Holly Fox, who also swam for Ferndown Otters, and Gemma Spofforth, the 2009 world champion and current world record holder in the 100m backstroke.

After qualifying as a teacher, Robinson taught in New Zealand in 2003 before joining Newlands School, Sussex, as director of sport from 2003-06 and Kelly College from 2006-11.