Millfield VS Mount Kelly for Swimmer - 2022 Feedback

[Dad2LF]

Greetings All.
We are considering moving our swim focused son from an academic prep school in Kent to either Mount Kelly or Millfield for Year 9 in 2023.
We would really appreciate any updated feedback from families who have a lived experience of either schools.
Thank You

Hi Dad2LF

Did you decide which school would be best for your son ? We are in the same situation. Any feedback form current parents ?

Hi, so this app / site actually works!!

Since I had no response I went into obsessive research and below are my findings for our soon to be Year 9 swimmer in 2023:

Our 12 year old son currently ranks as below across multiple SC & LC events at County (top 5), Regional (top 10) & National (top 25) and this is largely down to our incredible coaching teams at our local swimming club in Kent and probably some natural aquatic feel from our child.

When I plotted our sons SC & LC Personal Best times into both the Devon & Somerset County rankings I was surprised to see that he would be significantly ranked higher to the swimmers in the same age group from both Mount Kelly & Millfield and he would still be top ranked for that Region as a whole.

A quick search across the web would reveal many comments from swim parents saying both schools attract the best swimming talents at ages 14+ which ultimately bolsters their rankings as they benefit from new swimmers who are already top ranked from competitive Counties & Regions.

That said - I do feel that both schools can be a better proposition for a mature 15+ elite level swimmer whose local club can no longer accelerate a level of progression that takes them into a National or International squad.

So for us we won’t be making the move as it would have involved moving homes as we where not comfortable with our kids attending on a boarding basis.

We also decided that moving homes for the sake of a Sports School (no matter how good the school may read) was too much inadvertent pressure to put on a 13 year old who may feel he now had to perform significantly better at swimming due to the family relocating etc etc..

Hope my waffle made sense?

As you can tell, I have been on an island and wanting to share my findings with the first person I came into contact with 😂!

Good luck with your decisions.

Wow, thank you Dad2LF. All the best!

Very sensible decision

I have a child at Mount Kelly in year 10. I would wait til older for this move if possible (I can see you’ve decided against it, but in case anyone else reading) if swimming is the reason for your move. A child who is great in year 8 may not necessarily be so strong in year 10 upwards. Years 10 & 12 tend to attract the really good swimmers (some have been to Youth Olympics by age 14) which tends to mean the good but not outstanding swimmers feel a bit fed up when they never get picked for Arena League etc as they’re up against 14 year old girls doing sub 58 in the 100 free age 14. They get a lot of international talent too who are incredible.
my swimmer there is really happy but has decided swimming isn’t the be all and end all - just being a decent regional/lower end of national swimmer is run of the mill there and I think it has put them off a bit - all that work for no recognition. But happy in all other aspects of the school and it’s a lovely area to live in.
but for anyone else reading this I’d say don’t move specifically for swimming unless you’re year 10 upwards or phenomenally good as they often end up feeling very average and disheartened by all the even better swimmers coming in.

Dad2LF - you made absolutely the right decision. If your club coaching team are incredible then your son will do better swim wise in that environment. Very good swimmers at Millfield can be made to feel useless and the coaching is focussed on the exceptional swimmers. The swimmer knows when the coaches aren't particularly interested in them.

If your son is happy where he is I advise you to stay put. There has been quite an exodus of swimmers from the once great and mighty Millfield to Mount Kelly and even to Plymouth College and none have returned or regretted their move. Millfield swimming coaching staff leave a lot to be desired with many swimmers withering away from swim coach's neglect and disinterest, the focus of Millfield Swim coach is on the swimmer who can progress his coaching career. All the rest are fodder for fees.