At 15 years of age Louisa Twigg is one of the longest serving members of the Pembrokeshire Swimming Team's Performance Squad and it is fitting reward for a terrific amount of commitment, allied to high skill levels, over a long period – and has earned her selection for the Swim Wales team to take on England, Scotland and Ireland in the UK School Games in September at Loughborough.

It is small wonder then that head coach Craig Nelson, who sets very high standards, is impressed by her achievements, which include being a Welsh champion several times over - and the only entrant from our county in this year's ASA British Summer Long Course Nationals, which are held at Pond's Forge in Sheffield in the state of the art 50 metre pool there, plus an entry to the British Open Water championships the weekend before.

Missed out in 2015 but ready for this year’s challenge!

Louisa was unlucky to miss out last year at the British Nationals through a mixture of illness and injury but this year qualified as one of the top 24 swimmers in both the 800 metres freestyle and the 400 metres individual medley, where she has to show her all-round ability by swimming 100 metres of backstroke, butterfly, breast stroke and freestyle, which she really enjoys as a challenge.

They take place on the 26th and 27th July and the whole family hopes to be there to cheer her on, as will coach Nelson. Leading the way will be mother Suzanne, whom Louisa describes as the best taxi driver ever, especially for very early morning starts, whilst father Jonathan is the captain of Haverfordwest Cricket Club's second team and a well-known football referee. Then there's younger brothers Harry and George, who hope to make the long trek north as well.

Total dedication needed and shown in the pool – and in open water

A measure of the dedication to training can be gauged from the fact that as a member of the performance squad Louisa has to attend 15 hours a week for training with Craig Nelson and sometimes his assistant Sam Jones, as well as another one hour 20 minutes session working on core strength and injury prevention, plus a voluntary Saturday morning session gym session, working alongside Carys Thomas, who is  very good competitive swimmer but also competes at the highest levels in open water swimming and surf life-saving..

Louisa also made her debut last year in open water swimming at Parc Bryn Bach, in Merthyr Tydfil over a distance of 1,500 metres.
"I was pleased to be leading until the last lap but then I got lost a little and was beaten on the run-in to the finish - so perhaps I need an aquatic Satnav for that event!
"I'll be going again this year and have been practising in the pool for the 3,000 metres race this time.”

Early starts and helping others

The squad use the 'Easy Line' room for 20-minute warm-up sessions designed to make sure that shoulders and hips are nicely tuned and the rigorous training in the pool takes place every Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at 6.30 until 8am, plus four evenings a week from 5.15 to 7.30 pm.
"It is a good job that mum does a great job getting me there in the mornings," admitted Louisa with a chuckle, "and then I have to fit in my studies for GCSE exams on top of that!"

Outside of her swimming there is little time for other sporting pursuits but Louisa enjoys cricket, football and has competed in cross country for both Fenton Junior and Sir Thomas Picton Schools at county level - and has also done some track running over 800 and 1,500 metres.
Not content with that little lot, Louisa has also been involved in a voluntary capacity with coaching at the Disability Haverfordwest Cricket Hub and officiating at the Special Olympic swimming events.

Early introduction to swimming

But it has been swimming that she has been involved in since she learned to swim by the age of five and was a member of the Haverfordwest Seals soon afterwards.
"We trained in the old pool near Haverfordwest Library and at six years old I took part in my first club competitions - and can still remember the thrill of winning my first medals.

"We moved to the fantastic new pool at the Haverfordwest Leisure Centre in 2010 and the facilities there are amazing - and it is there that I started out in inter-club galas against the likes of Pembroke and Milford in under nine and under ten races.

Increased participation

Louisa eventually moved to the Development Squad with Haverfordwest in what is known as DS3 (for the top competitive swimmers there) and upped her training to 7.5 hours a week, which at the time seemed a lot as she had help from Richard Thompson, Alaric and Simeon Whalley, amongst others, plus Phil Thomas when he was an excellent county swimming chairman and former County Assistant coach Chris Davies.

"At first I wanted to specialise in butterfly events but then switched at 11 to backstroke - and since then I have changed my mind again and now love the 400 metres individual medley and the longer races of 400 and 800 metres in the freestyle section.”

Breakthrough to top squad pays dividends

From there it was on to the county's development squad alongside Lucy Harding, Arabella Haley, Curtis Palmer and Colm Tobin in what was a link programme organised by the then-county coach Paul Dowey, as well as still following her own club's programme at other times. 

In 2012, Louisa made a real breakthrough when she competed at the Winter National Championships held in the 50-metre pool in Swansea, coming a creditable fourth in the 200 metre backstroke and enjoying the experience of competing at that level.

"There are National Finals in Winter, Easter and Summer and since then I have taken part in them all," Louisa told us, "and after pre-qualifying in 2014 I had one of my best ever set of results in my age group as I entered nine events and gained seven gold medals, as well as being pipped on the line in the back stroke and taking a bronze in the 200 freestyle.

"But I won the 100 and 200 metres in the breast stroke, the 400 and 800 in freestyle and the 200 and 400 metres individual medley to complete a memorable weekend.

And finally . . .

The build-up to this year's British Nationals has been another challenge for Louisa because she has competed at the Stockport Metro event last November, the Sheffield Burns Night gala in January, with several places just outside the medals - followed by two golds and three silvers at the City of Bristol Gala in April, plus a gold and two silvers at Plymouth Leander in May.

"It has been a great set of experiences," Louisa told us, "and I was really pleased to continue my learning curve throughout.  This has included attending a week-long Winter Swimming Camp in Futerventura with the Pembrokeshire Squad and representing Swim Wales at the Inter Counties event, again in Pond’s Forge, Sheffield. "

From the outset it is easy to see Louisa Twigg's total dedication to the huge training demands and a real appreciation for all the support given by her family, a range of coaches and fellow swimmers. She is eagerly anticipating the forthcoming National Finals and there is one thing for sure - if dedication to her sport is a yardstick then she deserves to do really well in them!