PARDOE Hector Thomas Cheal

General
MOVE TO FRANCE
Having trained at Ellesmere College in Shropshire, England, under the tutelage of Alan Bircher from age 11 to 18, in 2020 he moved from England to live in Montpellier, France. He wanted to take a break from studying and purely focus on open water swimming which he decided would be his sole swimming discipline in 2020. As a result of pursuing open water swimming his training has changed so he swims 85 kilometres a week in Montpellier, France, whereas before he would swim 50 kilometres a week and do more speed work. He believes his technique has changed as a result and he has worked on his upper body strength to improve in open water swimming. "So proud of what I've achieved, the risk I made moving my life to France to a foreign country, not speaking the language, fending for myself, made worst by the COVID-19 travel restrictions, making it impossible to see my family for six months at a time. Here, it feels like I'm more on my own [in Montpellier], basically, so it has definitely made me a stronger person and made me grow faster." (Twitter profile, 21 Jun 2021; britishswimming.org, 30 Nov 2020; Propulsion Swimming YouTube channel, 31 Jul 2020)