The best way to experience what life is like at Brighton College is to join us at an Open Morning, where you will have the chance to talk to pupils and teachers about what makes our school such a special place.
In 1992, Janko Gojkovic stepped out into the Olympic swimming venue in Barcelona, with the weight of Bosnia and Herzegovina on his shoulders. A few months earlier, his nation had seceded from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, sparking a brutal conflict that would last almost four years.
“It was a long five or six months for us to get there - an emotional rollercoaster. Everybody was very supportive of our Olympic team – all the media and the whole stadium when we walked out. It’s very difficult to describe, but it was a very overwhelming 10 days.”
With his hometown of Sarajevo under siege, that summer in Barcelona marked the beginning of a long and illustrious swimming career that would take him to a further two Olympic Games.
In the years following, Mr Gojkovic moved to Sheffield, and won the 100m butterfly at the 1994 British Championships. Returning to England in 2015 to focus on a career in coaching, the start of this academic year saw Mr Gojkovic appointed as our Director of Swimming. It has been a whirlwind journey for the three-times Olympian, and he has swiftly got to work on implementing his own identity into coaching at the College, offering exceptional teaching to our College and Prep School pupils.
In the past few years, the opportunities for swimming at the College have increased rapidly. Our stunning 25m swimming pool opened in 2020 and is an unrivalled facility, where lane swimming, water polo and even scuba diving takes place. The team travel far and wide to take part in many swimming competitions at the highest level, and the swimming team is going on a summer international tour to Slovenia this year.
There are opportunities for those wanting to develop or improve, and under Mr Gojkovic’s leadership, the most wonderful opportunities for those who want to compete at elite-level competitions.
Mr Gojkovic has secured an affiliation with the nearby Sea Lanes complex – the National Open Water Swimming Centre. At 50m in length, this has presented our swimmers with a further opportunity to develop their abilities. And of course, situated on the English Channel gives our swimmers the chance to take part in supervised sea swims, proven to be beneficial for positive mental health.
We already have an array of swimmers competing in regional and national competitions, with Astrid, Emilia and Aran already a force on the national swimming stage.
Our dynamic and dedicated swimmers regularly win trophies and medals across a variety of disciplines. With six squad sessions each week and the opportunity to swim both before, during, and after school, swimming has become one of our most accessible and popular sports. The College has a fine swimming history.
In 2021, when Head of School Shaun Pexton (BCPS/Ry. 2017-22) and fellow pupil Eren Guryel (BCPS/Le. 2012-22), known as the BC Bouys, embarked on a legendary swim across the English Channel. They raised £7,000 for the charity YoungMinds and completed the swim in 11 hours and 49 minutes – one of the fastest ever times for a two-man relay. Mr Marshall-Taylor and Mr Kennedy also swam the channel as a two-man relay a few years beforehand, raising vital funds for MNDA.