March 2017

WARWICKSHIRE MEANS BUSINESS

Sam has quit top-level swimming to throw himself into economics

Sam van de Schootbrugge, who recently joined Warwickshire County Council's Economy & Skills team, expects to work hard for a living.

He likes working hard - and has no problem at all with unsociable hours.

But he is quite pleased that his current role, acting economist at the council, does not entail four hours of work - hard, physical work - every single day before 9.30am.

He's been there and done that, for years, as a swimmer competing at the highest level. He was short-listed for the British team for the London Olympics in 2012 before deciding that his future lay in economics rather than the pool and retiring from competitive swimming at 22 - a year before the age at which swimmers traditionally peak.

Now it's time to devote all his abundant energy and talent in another direction: Economics.

Sam has joined the council as maternity-leave cover for economist Natalie Henderson and has, as befits a chap who has represented his country in the realm of sport, hit the ground running. Armed with an economics degree, a thirst for learning and an appetite for knowledge, he has thrown himself into the job and already unearthed the very welcome fact that, in recent years, Warwickshire boasts the highest growth of any local authority of comparable size in the UK.

The 23-year-old loves getting his teeth into such research.

"This is the perfect opportunity for me at the council," he said. "I really enjoy research, am self-motivated and love learning new stuff and applying what I have learned to practical projects. I have always been very goal-motivated and my goal was always to win swimming trophies. Now I am setting myself new challenges."

His talent in the pool meant that plenty of trophies came his way. Born in Holland to a Dutch dad and English mum (Dutch is his first language), Sam moved to England aged one and was a gifted swimmer from a very young age. He represented Oxford Swimming Club and then Nova Centurion, Nottingham, and swam for Great Britain in successive Junior European Championships in Helsinki and Belgrade and the Junior World Championships in Peru.

"I always regarded my academic work as most important," he said. "I loved doing my degree in economics and, during that three-year course, exams often came along just before major swimming tournaments and it became a bit of a struggle to do both. When I stopped swimming, suddenly there so much time in the day. I was full of energy.

"I loved competing at a high level but there were big sacrifices to be made. Every morning I would be in the pool from 5.45am to 8am and then the gym until 9.30am. Then I'd eat for an hour to take in the required 2,000 calories and rest and sleep until going back in the gym from 4pm-5pm and swimming 5pm to 7pm. That schedule excludes a lot of things from your life.

"I trained a lot with Rebecca Adlington which was brilliant but part of the reason for her success was that she was totally ruthless about what she did. I did not have that. I am competitive but, for me, it was not all-consuming.

"In 2015, I won two regional championships but got no pleasure out of winning the trophies - and that made me think I needed a different challenge.

"I know pretty much all there is to know about every aspect of swimming.

I probably know about ten per cent of what there is to know about economics - and it's always changing, so I will always be learning. I like that."

Now the next chapter of Sam's challenge is at Warwickshire County Council.

"I'm helping to hold the fort while Natalie is away and carrying on, and hopefully adding to, the great work she has done," he said. "Our new Labour Market Bulletin has proved very popular and, after four years of studying, it has been great to put theory into practice. I am working with a really talented team and the great thing is I am deeply involved and being worked hard."

But no longer, he is pleased to confirm, from quarter to six every morning...

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