Tigg appointed as Aquatics GB Swimming Head Coach

[Images courtesy of Ian MacNicol for Scottish Swimming]

Tigg steps up into the position at the commencement of a new Olympic cycle from his role at the University of Stirling - succeeding Bill Furniss OBE, whose retirement was announced last month following the Paris 2024 Games.

As the Head coach of the University of Stirling swimming programme for the last seven years, Tigg’s leadership has overseen a positive era of growth and success in the university’s high-performance programme, with seven swimmers from within his stable of Stirling athletes flying the flag for Team GB on the Olympic stage in Paris this summer.

Having started his journey at Alloa ASC before then becoming head coach of South Ayrshire and F.I.R.S.T (Falkirk Inter-Regional Swim Team), Tigg first joined the University of Stirling coaching staff in 2014 and developed his early international coaching experiences on junior British teams including the Utrecht 2013 European Youth Olympic Festival and Baku 2015 European Games.

Promoted to the University’s Head coach role in 2017, Tigg also progressed in establishing himself as a valuable member of the senior international British team set up – coaching swimmers at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games, multiple world and European championships – in addition to leading Team Scotland’s swimmers at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

During this time Tigg has been an influential figure in the corner of Duncan Scott - with eight Olympic, eight World, 11 European and 13 Commonwealth medals coming to fruition since the pair first began working together almost two decades ago at Alloa, while Kathleen Dawson and Jack McMillan have also achieved Olympic golds among an array of international successes for the Stirling-based swimmers under Tigg’s tutelage in recent years.

Commenting on his new role to develop Britain’s world-class performance swimming programme, as preparations begin for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, Steven Tigg said:

“It is a privilege to be appointed Aquatics GB Swimming Head Coach, and to follow on from the legacy created by Bill Furniss. The success Aquatics GB Swimming has enjoyed over the past 12 years is testament to his expertise and coach leadership.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to take up the challenge of continuing this on as we move towards LA and beyond, and I’m excited to partner with Chris Spice and an exceptional cohort of world class coaches, athletes and practitioners in doing so.

“Thank you to everyone at the University of Stirling for making my time there so memorable and enjoyable - I look forward to continuing the collaborative relationship held between Aquatics GB and the university.”

Speaking on the appointment, Aquatics GB Performance Director Spice said:

“Steven Tigg is an outstanding coach and leader and we welcome him to the post of Aquatics GB Swimming Head Coach. Steven has been in our high performance system since 2014 and enjoyed coaching success at all levels of performance swimming in the UK; he was the outstanding candidate in an extensive recruitment process.

“Steven has not only coached recent Olympic champions – Duncan Scott, Kathleen Dawson and Jack McMillan but has also successfully lead Commonwealth Games teams for Scotland, and more recently was Great Britain’s Head Coach at the 2022 European Championships. Steven comes to the role having lead the incredibly successful University of Stirling high performance programme for the past seven years where his systematic approach to player development has delivered many British, Commonwealth, European, and World Champions since 2017. In addition, he has led an outstanding team of coaches and support staff in Scotland who have also represented GB regularly on the European and World stage.

“Steve will bring an analytical approach to our World Class programme alongside his unwavering desire to deliver more success for swimming in Great Britain. I very much look forward to working with him as we start to design our programme for the LA 2028 cycle.”

David Bond, Head of Performance Sport at the University, said:

“Steve Tigg has dedicated the past 10 years of his career to identifying and nurturing the nation’s best swim talent here at the University of Stirling, Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence.

“Since 2014, Steve has worked tirelessly to develop, grow and enhance our high-performance programme – not only to the benefit of the University, but delivering success for Britain, Scotland and swimmers from around the world. Our athletes continue to thrive on the international stage, and we are incredibly proud of all that they continue to achieve.

“Given his success here at Stirling, it comes as no surprise that Steve has been appointed to the biggest role in British swimming – and everyone at the University wishes him all the best as he takes this exciting step in his career.”