01/03... Ponds Forge ISC in Sheffield will be hosting a major exhibition of the GBswimstars posters and photos at the end of March, to coincide with the British Championships being held there. Some of the photos have already started to appear on the giant scoreboard above the competition pool telling people about the forthcoming event  ...VIEW PONDS FORGE NEWS ITEM ABOUT THIS




11/02... Nice review in the Luton Today newspaper about the GBswimstars exhibition in The Hat Factory ...READ REVIEW

25/01... LEN sent out a press release about the GBswimstars photo exhibition in Luton ...READ PRESS RELEASE

02/01... GBswimstars photos are being used as images on the new British Swimming website. The synchro landing page image (girl doing a backflip at the top of the page) is Katie Skelton (GB team), water polo landing page image is Craig Figes (GB team captain), British Swimming main landing page underwater photo is Max Partridge (City of Sheffield) and the swimming landing page photo is Richard Lee (Doncaster DARTES) ...VIEW WEBSITE

01/01... Looks like the 2010 photoshoot schedule is shaping up to be:
Early Jan - GB synchronised swimming team
End Jan - Stockport Metro/ITC swimming club and Trafford synchro club (same day!)
End Feb - Gallica swimming club
Mid March - Scottish national swim team + ITC swimming club
Mid April - Nova Centurion swimming club
More dates and clubs to follow!

18/11... The first GBswimstars solo photo exhibition will be in February next year at The Hat Factory in Luton.  We will show selected photos from the galleries - the idea of the exhibition being to use photographs and multi-media to showcase GB aquatic sports to a wider audience and inspire people to go and try them ...VIEW WEBSITE






10/10... GBswimstars photos being used on the Team 2012 Website for feature on Adam Scholefield (GB Water Polo team) ...VIEW WEBSITE  and on the official London 2012 Olympics Website ...VIEW WEBSITE

022/09... GBswimstars is now on Facebook!  This means you can add comments, links etc. (gulp!) - click the logo below to go to the new GBswimstars Facebook page:


03/09... A large number of photos from the Nationals 2009 are in this month's edition of the Swimming Times, including two double page spreads!

03/09... Really good to see the Doncaster Dartes using the GBswimstars posters and photos to try and attract more children (especially boys) into the sport.  They're asking people to come up with poster designs - running it as a sort of competition.  What a great idea  ...VIEW THEIR WEBSITE

22/08... Pictures from the GB water polo team shoot used in THIS ARTICLE.

30/07... Picture of Matthew Johnson taken on Sunday printed by the Sheffield Star  ...VIEW ARTICLE

20/07... GBswimstars has a new recruit - John Farrelly - who's a Masters swimmer and mad volunteer like myself.  On Saturday John and I left Sheffield at 6.00am (are we crazy?!) and drove north to sunny Doncaster to photograph and interview the Doncaster Dartes.  There we tried underwater photography for the first time and took a giant leap of faith, because we had to: (1) stuff my precious digital camera into what is no more than a large plastic bag and plunge it underwater, and; (2) stand in front of the kids as they swam towards us at full speed and jump/swim out the way at the very last second before being flattened.  It was all worth it in the end because we came away with some great pictures (despite only having about 4 minutes to take the pictures because the Saturday morning lane swimmers weren't prepared to wait!).  Our thanks to the Dartes for their wonderful hospitality - photos coming soon. 

11/07... On Thursday I was invited to attend the LEN European Women's Water Polo Championships at the Manchester Aquatics Centre. HRH Prince William was in attendance supporting GB water polo, as was David Sparkes and many of the great and the good from the world of swimming. Action photos of the GB girls playing Slovakia on the night (they won!) and photos of Prince William in the galleries.

07/07... This really made me laugh, watch THIS VIDEO.

06/07... One of my photos was used by BBC Sport on their website in an article about the LEN European women's water polo championships this week in Manchester  ...VIEW ARTICLE.

02/07... In October I'll be photographing the Putteridge Piranhas (what a great name!) and the 2008 ASA Young Swimmer of the Year, Bailey Wilkes  ...VIEW WEBSITE

25/06... Full page feature about the GBswimstars project and Sheffield Diving Club printed today in The Sheffield Star  ...VIEW ARTICLE

22/06... I'm now working on a project with British water polo to publicise their need for more polo players to train as referees and officials. The photo shoot is planned for September/October time and will involve a number of polo referees and officials from across the country - prepare to see them as they've never been seen before! (Can we really make a referee look like a cat-walk model?!)

13/06... Next month I'll be photographing the Doncaster Dartes  ...VIEW WEBSITE

13/06... One of my photos is on Page 52 of this month's issue of the Swimming Times.

31/05... Some of the GB women water polo team photos are in an article for 'Women in Sport' to promote the LEN Europeans next month in Manchester  ...VIEW ARTICLE

08/04... What a day on Monday! In five hours I took over 500 photos of the GB Water Polo men and women's teams. We tried everything from 'wet and wild' looks in the shower, to underwater, to fashion, to an outside group photo in between the rain! Just to add to the excitement we also had BBC 1 Sport there to film what was happening and a brilliant make-up team to do the impossible - make the boys look half decent (the girls looked fab anyway). A huge thank you to Nancy Spencer at www.makeupmanchester.co.uk for coming along with her team of willing make-up volunteers - they did a fantastic job.

05/04... A big THANK YOU from me to those of you who have sent me messages of support following the announcement by British Swimming last week. In the three days after 2nd April my Website received over 500 visits! I've already started to get requests from GB athletes, parents and officials wanting photos and posters to help with their sponsorship, PR, press etc.

02/04... British Swimming announces GBswimstars project. Their press release is below or click to  ...VIEW ARTICLE

GBSWIMSTARS PHOTO INITIATIVE AND WEBSITE LAUNCHED 02 Apr 2009

A new national initiative to help promote and support British aquatic athletes, coaches and volunteers in the run up to a home Olympics and beyond has been launched.
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A new national initiative to help promote and support British aquatic athletes, coaches and volunteers in the run up to a home Olympics and beyond has been launched. Simon Wright, a keen Masters swimmer and photographer, has launched GBswimstars, a voluntary initiative that uses photography to showcase the leading aquatic sports athletes of today and future stars. Originally started as a project for City of Sheffield water polo and swim clubs - and more recently for the British Water Polo team - the project has been so successful that it is now being extended across the country.

'The idea behind GBswimstars is to use powerful, memorable photographs to help promote, support and motivate those involved in the sport,' said Wright.

'The public and press applaud our medal winners but what they don't see is the enormous amount of training that goes on behind the scenes before the competition - a thankless, repetitive and often tedious task. “It takes an enormous amount of dedication and will to stay motivated to train twice a day – and not just from the athletes but also the parents/carers and coaches who are there six days a week.

'A little recognition and praise really helps motivate so between now and 2012 I will be visiting clubs around the country with a mobile photography studio and taking high quality photographs of athletes and coaches.”

Those who have been involved so far have enjoyed the “X-Factor” type of experience and get to keep the photos while the clubs can use them to promote their own swimming, diving synchro or water polo athletes by putting the photos on their website and sending them to the press. They can also sell the photos to help with club fund-raising.

'My ultimate ambition is that some of the GBswimstars photos will be displayed in the London aquatics centre in recognition of all those who will dedicate years of their lives in pursuit of an Olympic medal. Not all will succeed in their ambition but I hope the photos will be permanent reminder of their sacrifice.”
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Clubs interested in exploring opportunities with GBswimstars should email david.richards@swimming.org or to view a selection of the GBswimstars photos please visit www.GBswimstars.com