Former Stourbridge swimming star Alex Woolridge dies from 'heart failure' at 42

He lived his life to the fullest and was loved by everyone."

These are the words of heartbroken mother Marguerite Wooldridge after her son Alex, a former Stourbridge swimming star, died suddenly from suspected heart failure, aged 42.

He grew up in Larkhill Road, Wollaston and has been described as one of the 'finest swimmers' the area has ever produced, winning a string of Worcester County titles and going on to compete at a national level.

Mr Wooldridge is survived by wife Ren Fang, a nurse who he married in 2010 and two daughters, four-year-old Jessica and one-year-old Charlotte, who he lived with in Basingstoke.

His mother said: "We're terribly upset, but want to do our best to celebrate Alex's life, as he really did have a great one. He made the most of every opportunity given to him and the amount of people who have contacted us to offer support has been incredible.

"He was also a great musician, playing guitar and piano, winning first prize in his age group at the Dudley Festival of Music and drama in the early eighties.

"Alex's main claim to success would be his happy marriage to Ren and his two beautiful daughters Jessica and Charlotte."

His swimming success came after he followed in the footsteps of his sister Olivia, now aged 45, who was also a keen swimmer.

Mr Wooldridge won an under-8 trophy when he was just six-years-old at Stourbridge Swimming Club, with the guidance of instructors Brian and Olwyn Craddock.

He represented Dudley Metro and City of Birmingham and competed against Olympic standard swimmers, beating the likes of Adam Ruckwood and Nick Gillingham regularly.

He enjoyed some success in the West Midlands Biathlon Championships in 1984 and 1986, and was under 17 boys 1500m champion Dudley Borough schools athletics in 1989.

Mr Wooldridge, who died on March 5, was a former pupil at Gig Mill Primary School, Edgecliff High School and King Edwards VI college, where he was captain of the basketball team. He went on to study maths and physics at Warwick University.

Shortly after university, he moved to London and worked for Guildford based software company Cubiks for 16 years.

His funeral will take place in Basingstoke on March 30.