Eight of Britain’s best swimming coaches have been nominated by British Swimming to take on key roles with Team GB during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games next summer.
After a successful World Championship campaign over in South Korea this summer, Dave Hemmings, David McNulty, Jol Finck, Mel Marshall and Steve Tigg have all been named as coaches and will support the team both during the preparation camp, and on pool deck on competition days at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
At the global championships in Gwangju each of the five aforementioned coaches enjoyed success with their individual athletes, as well as taking responsibility for relay quartets, with Mel Marshall and Steve Tigg helping to deliver gold and bronze in the Men’s 4x100m Medley and Mixed 4x100m Medley respectively.
Supporting them will be Euan Dale and Lisa Bates, the former gaining further international experience in South Korea this summer, whilst the latter performed the same role at Rio 2016 and at the Europeans in Glasgow 2018.
Of the coaching selections, British Swimming Head Coach Bill Furniss said:
“I would like to congratulate the eight coaches we are nominating to the BOA to work with our Olympic team. All have come through a tough selection process and proved their ability to deliver results in the performance arena. The early appointment of our coaching staff follows the pattern establish in the last Olympic cycle. The coaches will now be an integral part of team development activity as they build relationships with the athletes at camps and competitions in the lead in to the Olympic Games.”
This announcement follows on from confirmation that Chris Spice will take up the role of Team Leader in Tokyo as he did in Rio, with Furniss and Dawn Peart also replicating the Head Coach and Team Manager roles they performed in Brazil.
British Swimming nominated coaches:
Coaches
- David McNulty, National Centre Bath
- Melanie Marshall, National Centre Loughborough
- Steven Tigg, University of Stirling
- David Hemmings, National Centre Loughborough
- Jolyon Finck, National Centre Bath
Support Coaches
- Euan Dale, Millfield School
- Lisa Bates, Chelsea and Westminster Swimming Club
Marathon Coach
- Hayley Baker, Swansea Aquatics
There has also been further
good news, with National Centre Loughborough’s Joe Litchfield and Millfield
School’s Brodie Williams added to the GB team who will compete at December’s
European Short Course Championships. With an initial team of 16 named, a refocusing
of resources has allowed two further additions.
Of the confirmation, Team Leader Chris Spice added:
“Both Brodie and Joe made great strides forward in the summer and this will be an opportunity to build on their arena skills and race preparation as we head toward our all-important Olympic year. We have a great team for Glasgow with some experienced World champions and some exciting young talent. It is by some distance the strongest team that we have selected for this event since I started in this role, and we are all looking forward to racing at home again in Glasgow.”
Tickets for the European Short Course Championships are on sale hereUpdated, July 2021