Sports hotel and multisport resort Thanyapura Phuket in Thailand has welcomed Spaniard Miguel Lopez Alvarado as the organisation’s new Aquatics Head Coach.
Alvarado has more than 20 years’ experience as a swimming coach, has trained at the elite level, ‘steering able-bodied and disabled swimmers to great heights.’ A national swimming coach in his homeland of Spain, he has replaced American Randy Simon as the Thanyapura Aquatic Academy Head Coach.
Thanyapura Phuket has been building momentum in recent months, offering an advanced triathlon training camp this August and expanding its position as a resort focusing on health and well-being. The organisation”s Executive Chairman is elite triathlete Chris ‘Macca’ McCormack.
Thanyapura notes that Miguel Lopez Alvarado’s career is expansive. He has trained Olympians and Paralympians. His dossier of former charges includes three-time triathlon world champion and Olympic silver medallist Javier Gomez. He also coached three swimmers to Paralympic success. Pablo Cimadevila Alvarez, Sebastian Rodriguez and Pablo Saavedra Reinaldo all broke world records while training under Alvarado. More recently, he coached London 2012 Olympic swimmer Beatriz Gomez Cortez.
Miguel studied at the University of Cambridge, where he obtained a Master’s degree. He also has a Bachelor of Science degree in applied physiology and kinesiology from the University of Florida.
“We’re very excited to welcome Miguel to the Thanyapura family,” said Thanyapura’s President and CEO Philipp Graf von Hardenberg. “Having Miguel at the helm will take our Silverfinz Programme to the next level.
“His expertise and coaching background make him one of the best swimming coaches in Asia. He is a huge addition to the world-class coaching staff that now call Thanyapura home.”
For 2014-15 Thanyapura has revitalized its Silverfinz Swim School program to provide a more clear development pathway for children who want to take up swimming as a sport. The program is positioned as a fun and exciting way to learn a necessary life skill in a safe and encouraging environment with an expert team of coaches, now led by Miguel. The program consists of seven levels for children to aspire towards and is open to everyone on the island of Phuket.
Upon the completion of the Silverfinz Swim School, children may move into Thanyapura’s squads program (silver or gold), to further their swimming experience and begin competing at higher level competitions.
