Keri-anne Payne
Empower the world to swim outdoors

One of the UK’s best-known open water swimmers, Keri-anne is an Olympic silver medalist and double world champion for the 10km marathon open water event.

She has always been a passionate swimmer, starting at the age of 4 in her birth country of South Africa. Following her family’s move back to the United Kingdom in 2001, she made her first international competition later that year. Following a successful pool career becoming European SC champion for the 400 freestyle, winning a bronze medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and competing in the 200 and 400 Individual medley at the Beijing Olympic Games, Keri-anne discovered her real talent was in the open water. Along with her Olympic medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, she has notably won the 10km at the 2009 and 2011 World Aquatics Championships and competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics, placing fourth. In 2014, she went on to win the LEN European Open Water Swimming Cup Super Final in Italy.

Keri-anne retired from competitive swimming in 2017, after competing at her 3rd Olympic Games in Rio and finishing 7th. Since then she has continued her career in open water swimming in a different way. She was at the forefront of the launch of the STA Level 2 Open Water Swim Coach qualification which is regulated by Ofqual and endorsed by CIMSPA – The Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity.

She founded Straight-Line Swimming to empower the world to swim outdoors, sharing her enthusiasm for coaching the sport through all its many capacities. Be that competitive, recreational use, relaxation, or for charity events and races. 

She now leads all the Straight-Line Swimming courses herself along with being an active member of the community. She has an open and positive attitude to inspiring others into the world of open water swimming and coaching which is apparent in everything that Straight-Line Swimming does.

David Carry
Inspire purpose and ignite passion to fulfil potential

David is a triple Olympian, a leadership coach and a published author.  He started competitive swimming in his homeland of Scotland and went on to represent Team GB at 3 Olympic Games in Athens, Beijing and finishing his career at a home Olympics in London 2012.

David was a prominent part fo the mens 4X200 freestyle relays competing in them at the 2004, 2008 & 2012 Olympic Games. David finsihed his swimming career at The London Aquatic Centre in the final of the mens 400 freestyle where he finished 7th and broke the British Record for the 400 freestyle earlier in the competition to secure his spot in the final.

Competing in the Commonwealth games in 2002, 2006 and 2010, he won 2 Gold medals in the 400 freestyle and 400 Individual Medley and a silver medal as part of the mens 4X200 freestyle relay. He also represented Great Britain at the 2004 Summer Olympicsin Athens and then again at both the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and later at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. 

David was a prominent part of the mens 4X200 freestyle relays competing in them at the 2004, 2008 & 2012 Olympic Games. David finsihed his swimming career at The London Aquatic Centre in the final of the mens 400 freestyle where he finished 7th and broke the British Record for the 400 freestyle earlier in the competition to secure his spot in the final.

Following his retirement from competitive swimming in 2012, David went on to found Track Record Coaching as well co-founding Straight-Line Swimming and Triscape, alongside his wife, Keri-anne.

At Track Record, which he co-founded with performance scientist, Dr Scott Gardner he continues to coach and inspire leaders of organisations, helping both them and their teams succeed to their fullest. Track Record continues to assist companies listed within the FTSE 100, taking the approaches used by champion athletes and applying them to almost any situation to help enhance performance, confidence and resilience. 

He is passionate about helping others unlock their potential and his book, ‘Take control of your confidence: The inside track to unleashing your potential’ is testament to this. It shares fascinating insights into the neuroscience of the brain and how with proper coaching, anyone can achieve their goals. 

David believes that learning is done by someone and not to someone. It’s this belief along with his understanding of the psychology of how to truly inspire someone to succeed that he brings to his role at Straight-line Swimming.

Malena Inglis
Building and caring for foundations so we can flourish

Having started her career working as a project manager for retail refurbishment of high-end retail brands such as Ted Baker, Hugo Boss, G-Star, and Anthropologie, Malena moved on to become an office manager for a jewellery and watch store. It’s thanks to this, that she has gained extensive and valuable experience by working in a variety of sectors ranging from fitness and coaching to oil and gas. 

After gaining this practical experience, she started working with both Triscape and Straight-Line Swimming since their launch and now runs their business and operations as their Business Director. 

Her experience in customer service, project management & operations along with her passion for the outdoors and adventure sports make her a perfect fit for the Straight-Line Swimming team. Malena is passionate about providing those with a love of the open water with the building blocks they need to become open water swimming coaches in their own right so that the sport can thrive and grow even further. 

She believes that the work that Straight-Line Swimming does, builds foundations so that the open water swimming community can really flourish.