Sara-Jane Cox-Conklin

Growing up in Burnham-on-Sea, Sara was a standout swimmer at the Burnham pool. Sara would go on to represent Great Britain in 11 World Championships ranging from Modern Pentathlon (National Champion)to Triathlon (World Amateur Champion) to X-Country Skiing (7th in World Masters) - she was also a National Biathlon Champion. After winning the ITU Worlds as an amateur, Sara turned professional  and went on to win an amazing 23 races around the world.

After retiring from Professional Athletics, Sara put her degree in Business & Finance, and Masters Degree in Psychology to use working alongside Mark Allen (6 X Ironman World Champion) as his Operations Executive and later as a Program Manager at Microsoft.

Sara is now back home, taking on another big challenge - making the Burnham-on-Sea Swim & Sports Academy a facility that she and the community can be proud of.

 Martin Rogers

Former Burnham-On-Sea swimming pool manager Martin Rogers has been recruited by the pool's new leaseholders to run their sports academy.

Sara-Jane Cox and Mark Conklin told Burnham-On-Sea.com they are delighted to have recruited Martin, who has lived in Burnham all his life.

"We are very excited to have been able to hire a key member of our team, Martin Rogers. Martin will be the Events & Sports Academy Manager, and will be a great asset to the Academy and its programs," said Sara.

"Martin is a very popular local man, who has run King Alfred's Sports Centre, Burnham Pool, and is a standout athlete - a credit to the community."

Martin, 41, takes on his new role from Monday (June 2nd) and the pool will then temporarily close for approximately six weeks while it gets a re-fit and deep clean in time for a grand re-opening later in the summer.

Martin managed Burnham pool for two years until August 2006 and has since been the manager of Millfield School's swimming pool.

He told Burnham-On-Sea.com: "It's a great opportunity to be a part of an exciting project to create a swimming and sports academy here in Burnham. My role will be to develop events like the triathlon and other new activities. I'm looking forward to working with Mark and Sara in the years to come."

Mark Conklin

Born in Denver Colorado,  Mark was the son of an Air Force pilot and teacher.  Mark attended High School in Florida, where he became a surfing fanatic, later moving to Southern California to compete in contests.  With little sucess in this department, Mark became an Ocean Lifeguard to pay the bills!  He later went on to become a surfing stunt double in LA and appeared  in a couple of motion pictures.

Mark's career (apart from his lifeguard stint!) has been in National and International Sales & Management .  representing such companies as Nytro Multisport, Kestrel Bicycles, Aqua Sphere, Speedo, Orca USA and later Synergy Sport - Zoggs USA.

Triathlon has always been a passion of Mark's.   He started in the 80's in San Diego - the birthplace of Triathlon and has raced every distance from sprint to ironman.  Mark - a specialist in bike positioning has consulted with many of the World's top professional athletes. 

Mark is excited to be back in the U.K. and looking forward to making the Academy a destination for everyone.