BUILT
TO WIN
BEYOND
THE POOL

The PA programme is headed by 8-time Olympic Coach, David Lyles who was Head Coach at club, University and National training centre level in the UK. In that time, David coached over 20 swimmers to international level, including finalists at both Sydney and Athens Olympic Games before becoming Head Coach to the Shanghai provincial team in China. Here, coach Lyles won more than a dozen medals at Asian, World, and Olympic Games before being appointed Head Coach to the New Zealand National Performance Centre in 2013. During his time with the National programme, swimmers won medals at World, Commonwealth & Pan-Pacific championships, as well as setting the first World Record for a generation.

David Lyles has been a New Zealand National Team coach at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games, as well as the 2013 and 2022 World Championship teams and the 2024 Paris Olympics. In 2025 he was appointed Head Coach to the National Junior squad for the Tri-Series competition in Australia. He is a member of the NZ High Performance Coaches Group and several National Federation working groups on education and competition planning. Alongside his work at Phoenix Aquatics, David now serves as National Youth Coach for Swimming New Zealand, leading a nationwide programme of over 140 swimmers aged 13–20 and guiding the next generation of Kiwi talent on the Olympic pathway.

With an Honours degree in Sports Management from the World-renowned Carnegie Sports College in Leeds, David Lyles brings almost 40 years of coaching knowledge and experience to the club programme and guides a team of young, aspiring and capable coaches who focus on technique and skill in the water together with a passion and hunger for swimming success.

What keeps David going is not just winning, but the quest to continually improve himself, his coaches, and his swimmers both as athletes and as young people.