Rob grew up in central England and was taught to swim by his grandad a British Royal Marine. At school he swam for various clubs and was a member of a 4 man team which won the English Schools National Championship Competition in 1991. He participated in numerous international club tours, most memorably to Berlin shortly after the fall of the Berlin wall. On leaving education Rob discovered the joy of open water swimming and is lucky to live close to Tooting lido in London and within one hour drive of Dover harbour. He is trained by Freda Streeter who helped Rob to train for his successful English Channel swim in 2007. Rob is currently training for the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim in 2009. His blog, Ou Est La Piscine?, can be found at the following link: http://robdeakin.blogspot.com/