Roy-Allan Burch
Roy-Allan Burch
QUICK STATS
- Birthday: November 29, 1985
- Height: 6’1”
- College: Springfield College
- International Competitions:
- Olympics: 2008, 2012
- World Championships: 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013
- Commonwealth Games: 2002, 2010, 2014
- Pan American Games: 2007, 2011
EXPERIENCE
Roy-Allan Burch is an Olympic and national-record holding swimmer from Bermuda. He swam for Bermuda at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. At the 2011 World Championships, he swam to new Bermuda Records in the 50 and 100 frees (22.69LCM and 51.01LCM).
He was a 12-time All-American at Springfield College where he still holds 4 school records! In 2022 Roy was inducted into the Springfield College Hall of Fame. He credits his time at Springfield with changing his life, ”I lost my mother at the beginning of my senior year in high school, there were a lot of challenges and different things that we didn’t have access to in terms of mental health that I probably could have taken advantage of at that time to try and cross the bridge during that process. When I got here, I had a place where I could continue to practice and continue to get my education, and I also met my wife here, Lauren, which was also wonderful. Among the things that I learned here is what it means to see things through and continue to give your best effort despite the difficulty.”
Although Roy was forced to retire from competition due a training injury, he continues to give back to the sport by coaching at Fitter & Faster Camps. He looks to instill the value of hard work to the swimmers he works with, “When it was time to put in work I knew that I had to push myself harder because I needed to show that … I was going to be the hard worker. I was going to be the guy in the water, showing up on time, first in the water, getting out of the water late, working on extra things, working on my strength and just doing everything possible to make sure that I showed my work ethic and my effort to prove that I could bring something to this sport and that I could make a difference.”
Hard work is not substitute for focusing on the details, Roys cautions, “Definitely, a focus on technique and make sure the kids are using their bodies properly – not just grinding and pounding. To me that’s walking towards injury. The culture of the group should be good- everyone supporting each other. You want a healthy environment that promotes a healthy lifestyle. Also maintaining good technique and form and work hard at what they do.”
