Michael Jamieson never thought he would see the day when he would be prowling a poolside in anger again. His retirement from swimming earlier this year following his failure to qualify for Rio 2016 left him, quite understandably, scunnered and he hung up his goggles and walked away swimming with a sense that chapter of his life was over forever, revealing in the process that he had suffered with depression at points in his career.

However, things do not always stick to the plan and over the weekend, there was Jamieson, back in the thick of things at the Scottish Short-Course Championships in Edinburgh. He was not at the Royal Commonwealth Pool as a competitor though; rather, the Scottish Championships was his first major meet as a coach. His move into the coaching ranks has surprised not only everyone in the swimming world, but also the man himself, particularly considering that he was on the verge of beginning a new life entirely. “The way it’s turned out – everything has come full circle,” the London 2012 silver medallist said. “I really never thought I would be on deck coaching, that’s for sure. And it came totally out of the blue – a few months ago, I was literally a day and a half away from going to Shanghai after accepting a job as an ambassador for a chain of international schools. Then I met a guy at an event who spoke to me because he was looking for some coaching for his kids and it started growing arms and legs from there.”

Things moved quickly and before he knew it, Jamieson was no longer China-bound and had a new home in London. Along with Craig Gibbons, a fellow swimmer and London 2012 teammate, the pair set up Natare West London Swimming Club just a few months ago. A number of Jamieson’s swimmers, who are primarily between 12 and 16 years of age, were tackling the Scottish Championships over the weekend, hence the 29 year-old’s trip back north of the border.

When Jamieson revealed his battle with depression, he put much emphasis on the stress that an athlete’s regime can have on an individual and this has, in turn, informed his coaching philosophy. “The idea is that we’ll keep the membership of the club small to try and maximise the coaching time and we’re going to take more of a holistic approach to things and try to get away from the high-volume training that swimming is historically associated with,” he explained. “We’ve got the kids doing an introduction to meditation and breathing as well as relaxation sessions, yoga, alignment and postural stuff rather than having them in the gym. And we’re also very mindful of our duty of care to them.”

There is an assumption that elite athletes have a natural aptitude for coaching and while this is most certainly not the case, Jamieson has found that he has a real passion for it, although he is adamant that he will never return to the pool himself. “Coaching is so, so rewarding and I have to be honest and say that I am enjoying it more than I thought I would,” he admits. “I am learning as much from them as they are from me. One of the areas that interests me the most and one that I can really see the value of experience is communication. It sounds so basic but how you speak to people is such a sensitive area and one that you need to be aware of every day. I feel like every day, I’m learning different things about how to help them develop as athletes but also develop as people. The more time I spend around them, the more things I realise I can help them with- that’s pretty cool and that helps me as much as it helps them. I still training myself but I’m not back in pool, that’s done.”

Jamieson has also reignited his involvement with Scottish Swimming, with the governing body inviting him to speak to the Commonwealth Games squad for Gold Coast over the weekend. There are few better mentors for young swimmers and the Glaswegian was happy to lay bare both the ups and down of his career. “Only very, very recently have I felt totally comfortable with not being involved (as a swimmer) any more,” he said. “That’s an ongoing thing and I’ll probably take a few steps back at some point and start missing it again but I’m comfortable with sharing that. I think I’m a good example of how important perspective is. It’s a hell of a lifestyle been an athlete. I was at the Delhi and Glasgow Commonwealth Games, which were both incredible events, but I don’t have incredibly fond memories of either of them because I was just so analytical about things and so wrapped up in my performance. So it’s really just about warning the current athletes that is what can happen and the importance of separating work from self and still being able to enjoy it. Doing that doesn’t detract from your performance.”

Since revealing that he suffered from depression during his career, Jamieson admits that the support he has received from the swimming community and beyond has been remarkable. But what has been even more valuable is that with world-class athletes such as Jamieson talking about mental health issues, the stigma attached to illnesses such as depression is slowly but surely chipped away. “The support I’ve received has been amazing,” he said. “Now, I’m very close to being able to definitively say that I’m really glad that everything happened. It’s pretty cool to have been able to turn full circle. I’m still in contact with so many people through the articles that have come out and I send loads of self-help books to people because I think it could help them. Hopefully, long-term, there can be a positive change in the culture.”

Jamieson is, he says,, in a great place right now and having returned from a yoga retreat in South America earlier in the year in fantastic fettle, he has another one, potentially to Thailand, planned in the coming months. In fact, so content is he within himself, he is even shrugging off the crack of dawn starts that swimmers have to become so accustomed to. “Getting used to getting up at 5 o’clock in the morning again hasn’t been all that easy,” he smiles. “But I’m loving it. I’m that really annoying guy who’s super-positive first thing in the morning - that’s me every day.”