TRIBUTES have been paid to a coach who dedicated his life to swimming.
Tony Holmes, long-time head coach of Nottingham Leander Swimming Club, died after losing his battle against cancer.
Among the swimmers who came under his guidance was Rebecca Adlington, who achieved double Olympic gold medal glory at the Beijing Games in 2008 and double bronze at London 2012.
Rebecca's mum, Kaye, said: "He was a very nice man and very heavily involved in swimming. It's very sad to hear of his death. He was very highly thought of – he dedicated his life to swimming."
She added: "He always sent text messages whenever Becky had a swim. He made sure that he knew he was following her progress and sent messages about how well she had done."
Sue Davis is the secretary at Leander swimming club, where Mr Holmes was head coach.
She said: "He was a fantastic bloke, he was unbelievable. He had been with the club 32 years as chief coach. He was a friend as well as a colleague. I can't believe I'm not going to work with him anymore. The time he had for the swimmers was massive; he would always talk to them and encourage them. His commitment was incredible."
Mr Holmes, who was a bank manager and worked in other financial roles, was diagnosed with lung and brain cancer in February.
Ms Davis said he had a massive impact on people's lives.
She added: "He's been coaching children of children he coached years ago. He would strive to get the best out of everybody and his passion for swimming was immense. He's going to be greatly missed."
And she is clear about the greatest achievement of Mr Holmes' career.
In 2009 he led the club to the country's top swimming competition.
She said: "He took us to the National Swimming League A Final. To reach the final as a club within Nottingham was immense. Eight of the other were city or county clubs."
Outside of swimming, Mr Holmes, who lived in Heron Ridge, was a passionate Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club supporter.
The funeral is on Thursday at 1pm at the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Carlton Hill.
