My other life: Simon Dyson, Allianz, competitive swimmer

How did your interest in swimming start?

I learnt to swim at a young age and with my mum being an ex-competitive swimmer, she encouraged me to join a club.

How did you build up your skills?

I started with one training session a week, increasing to nine in my late teens; five of those were very early starts. This was before the days of You Tube, so my skills were based on watching others but, above all else, I learnt from listening to my coaches.

What have been the highlights so far?

When I was younger I swam at national level but stopped when I went to university. Fourteen years later, I was tempted back by Allianz Sports, an in-house version of the Olympics organised by Allianz involving employees from across the world. I made the GB team, achieving fourth places in both the 100m and 200m freestyle.

I continued training with the masters section of Guildford City SC, with my main highlight being the recent National Masters Championships in Aberdeen where I won gold in the 1500m freestyle for my age group, with bronze medals in the 200m and 400m. I have also taken part in open water races, with highlights being coming third in a 10km race in the docks round City Airport, raising £2000 for charity in the process, and coming first out of 1400 competitors in the Great Manchester Swim last year.

How has the experience changed you?

Despite being a very individual sport, swimming has taught me the value of a team and that every person is integral to the team’s success. Swimming has also taught me that if you want to succeed at anything, you have to be dedicated. A 4:30am alarm is standard for me now to make training.

Any crossover between swimming and your insurance day job?

Attention to detail! I’m an underwriter by trade, so making sure that I’m thorough in my work is a similar approach to swimming. There are so many moving body parts in swimming that need to be worked on in training, if you miss one then the end performance will be affected, much the same as work.