Dartington’s Veale family are preparing for a new season of national and International Masters Swimming events.

Husband and wife - Simon (67) and Kate (57) (both international swimmers in their youth), and sons -Kalon (32) and Levin (30) – have all used the pool at Fusion’s Totnes Leisure Centre over the years to train for key Swimming Championships.

With over 30 medals and eight British records broken between them in the British Championships in 2023, the talented family of athletes have all been supported by the Fusion Sporting Academy, which was set up to help encourage local people to use local facilities to achieve their goals.

Kalon Veale says: “My personal goal this year is to swim some lifetime best times, but In the long run, we would all like to continue swimming at a high level and promoting the Totnes Swimming Club and the benefits of Fusion’s Sporting Academy wherever we go”

The academy, which re-launched in 2022, and provides support for talented athletes from across the UK, has already helped over 100 athletes on their journey to become a national sporting success.

In the world of competitive swimming, the Veale family have achieved a huge amount. Over the years, both Kate and Simon have held multiple World, European and British Records along with winning international titles across the world.

Son Kalon is a current British record holder across three age different groups 18-24/25-29/30-34 for backstroke events and along with his father, Simon, regularly finishes in a Top 10 Decathlon competition each year, to discover the best overall Masters swimmer in the country.

Coming up in 2024, are opportunities to build on last year’s successes with the British Long Course Masters in Swansea in April, and the European Masters in Belgrade in June.

Gareth Heard, Head of Sport & Community Development at Fusion Lifestyle, commented: “We are so proud of our Sporting Academy and the difference it can make to talented people like the Veale family.

“We want to help make sure that those with real promise have access to the facilities they need to make their dreams a reality”