AN Olympian has passed on his knowledge to swimming stars of the future.

James Goddard, who has competed at three Olympic Games, took a coaching session with all squads from Richmond Dales Amateur Swimming Club, and members of Northallerton Swimming Club at Catterick Leisure Centre last month.

One of those eager to learn from the athlete was ten-year-old James Peacock.

He said: "We did some team building games in the sports hall before we went into the pool.

"We leant to rotate our shoulders when we swim backstroke."

Evie Wharton, aged 7, added: “James asked us to swim backstroke with a cup of water balanced on our heads.

"It helped me learn to keep my head in the right place.”

Older swimmers heard from James that "technique was everything" and there was always room for improvement.

Swimmers showed off their underwater skills and learnt new drills for breaststroke.

The Olympian said he was impressed with the swimmers' attitude and commented that he would be looking out for swimmers from both clubs in the future.

Richmond Dales head coach, Paul Remmonds, said it had been a great training session that had helped to give focus to the young hopefuls.