While at Hymers College, Paul Callis, OH 1987-94, was also training to be a professional swimmer.  He trained with various Hull swimming clubs during his sporting career including Hull Olympic, City of Hull, Kingston Upon Hull swimming club (KUHSC) and in his later years of competing at South Hunsley.

Paul's specialty was the individual medley and breaststroke, and at the 2001 World Cup in Sheffield, he took bronze in the 100 and 200 metre finals representing England.  He has also been a British champion on numerous occasions across a multitude of events.

Paul was an unbeaten champion within Hull and Humberside for many years in various disciplines including: 50m/100m/200m breaststroke, 100m/200m individual medley, 50m/100m butterfly, and 50m/100m/200m freestyle. He has also won numerous regional gold medals at the Yorkshire and North Eastern England championships.

As well as competing, Paul was one of a handful of swimmers selected to test the 'shark suit' before it was released at the USA Olympic centre in Colorado Springs before the launch at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Furthermore, Paul tested the suits in Dunedin New Zealand, as a 'guinea pig' for Michael Phelps before the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Paul gained a world ranking positioning of 17th, and 2nd in the UK. He was also one of a select few to break the 50-second barrier for the 100-metre freestyle.

More recently, in November 2023, Paul competed in the European Masters swimming championship in Madeira and he told us more about this experience.

I recently flew out to Madeira, for the European Masters Swimming Championships held at the Olympic sports complex in Funchal. I raced for seven consecutive days from the 19th - 25th November, competing in seven events.

The first day of the Europeans started with a silver in the 100m Individual Medley, then following on, a silver in the 50m Breaststroke, a silver in the 200m Breaststroke, fourth place in the 50m Freestyle, and then finally a gold in the 200m Individual Medley, silver in the 50m Butterfly and silver in the 100m Breaststroke.

Total medal haul for the week of 1 gold and 5 silvers.

My nine-year-old son, Henry, who is also a competitive swimmer, flew out to watch me for the first four days and I'm pleased he witnessed me winning the European Masters Championships, so I am hoping I have inspired him in some way to help his swimming career!

Paul, with his son Henry

The championship was full of ex-Olympians, major medal winners, and national record holders from all over Europe. 

My 200m Individual Medley time, just missed the British Record by 0.97, therefore I am hoping to break that at some point in the near distant future. The times I swam, I was also ranked me number 1 in Great Britain for the 200m Medley and 200m Breaststroke in my age category 45-49.

Congratulations, Paul, on your swimming success.

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