Hi there, I’m Jon Yates, owner and Head Coach at Swimotion.
I’ve always had a passion for swimming, having started out with Sevenoaks Swimming Club as a child, and continuing right throughout my university days at Kingston in London.

In 2010, I decided to set myself a challenge to swim the Channel solo. It was during my training that it occurred to me that I could teach swimming as a career, so I explored the possibility of becoming a coach – gaining experience at many different swimming schools whilst studying for my qualifications. Somewhat different from my previous job as a cartographer!

Sevenoaks Swimming Club has been a big part of my life, both personally and professionally, where I am a proud member of the coaching squad today. I also started Coaching at Sevenoaks School in 2013.

However, I always dreamed of having my own place to teach. Somewhere I could offer one to one coaching to a variety of athletes and help them achieve their own personal fitness goals.

And luckily, that dream became a reality when I moved to Groombridge. Having watched in awe as the Brownlee brothers dominated at the London 2012 Olympics, I had a go in an Endless swimming pool and was instantly hooked.

I cannot recommend Endless swimming pools and Underwater treadmills highly enough.

Recovery from injury and pre-existing conditions is absolutely incredible, and until now, the South East simply hasn’t had the facilities for triathletes to train with an Underwater treadmill.

Since opening in 2015, I’ve helped swimmers and triathletes of all abilities realise their potential – it gives me a real kick to watch someone improve, whether they’re training for a triathlon, brushing up their open water techniques, improving their swimming generally or simply achieving a fitness target.

I hope you’ll come along and try out Swimotion, as it really does have the potential to transform your workout.

My teaching qualifications:
ASA Level 1 and 2 Coach
ASA Level 1 and 2 Teaching Aquatics
Gold Club Coach for Sevenoaks Swimming Club, a Premier South East Club
Head Swimming Coach for Sevenoaks School 2013-current

Some of my sporting achievements:
2010 English Channel Swims solo attempt
2012 English Channel 6-person Relay – 12h 06 mins
2014 Eton Dorney 10km – 2h 35mins
2015 Eton Dorney 10km – 2h 42mins
2015 LLanberis 5km - 1h 15mins
2015 Swim Bewl 3.8km 53:05
2016 Swim Bewl 3.8km 54.19
2017 Swim Bewl 3.8km 55:48
2017 Swim Bewl 10km 2:34:07
2018 Swim Bewl 3.8km 50:37
2018 Swim Bewl 10km 2:53:01
2019 Swim Bewl 3.8km 52:42
2019 Swim Bewl 10km 2:35:59
2019 River Adur 5km 54:37