Team Bath Netball were once again left to rue a slow start against Manchester Thunder as they missed out on a place in the Vitality Netball Superleague Grand Final despite a valiant fightback. The Blue and Gold found themselves trailing 17-6 at the end of a disappointing first quarter of Saturday’s semi-final in Manchester. And while they went to more than match their hosts for the remaining 45 minutes, Thunder – who were beaten just...
University of Bath-based GB Skeleton slider David Swift has announced his retirement from the sport after almost a decade representing his country on the international stage. The 31-year-old from Devon joined the GB programme in 2006 and has featured in more than 80 senior races, including two World Championships. A winner of the overall Intercontinental Cup (ICC) competition in 2015, the former sprinter was consistently one of the fastest starters in the world and was...
Strength & conditioning coach Luke Vella set an unofficial new world weightlifting record in front of a big crowd at the University of Bath Sports Training Village on Wednesday. In the process he has raised thousands of pounds for Bristol Children’s Hospital, who saved the life of his friend and fellow Team Bath coach Bob Smith’s baby daughter. More than 300 people – including the judo, rugby and tennis players that Vella trains at the...
Voting is under way for the Team Bath Netball Supporters’ Player of the Season award for 2016. It has been an exciting season for the Blue and Gold, who are bidding for a record sixth Superleague title after booking their place in the play-offs with a top-four finish. There have been a host of stand-out performances from the players, giving fans – who have once again turned out in their thousands to cheer the team on...
Natasha Starling was named as the University of Bath’s Sports Personality of the Year during a great night for tennis at the annual Blues Awards ceremony. The Business Administration student topped a poll of members of the Students’ Union Sport from a shortlist that also included fellow tennis player Alex Walker, swimmer Jay Lelliott and archer Lizzy Rees. She was presented with her award by the University of Bath Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Glynis Breakwell (pictured)....
With 100 days to go until the 2016 Olympic Games, University of Bath-based swimmer Jazz Carlin can say she has already struck Rio gold. Carlin, part of the British Swimming National Centre squad at the Sports Training Village, was invited by The Royal Mint to mark the 100-day countdown by striking an official Team GB gold-edition 50p coin. It comes a week after the Commonwealth champion was officially selected by Team GB for this summer’s...
Team Bath Netball will head into this weekend’s Vitality Netball Superleague semi-finals with confidence soaring after finishing the regular season with an emphatic 75-55 win at Loughborough Lightning. Saturday’s result – Team Bath’s biggest of the season in terms of goals scored – extended the Blue and Gold’s winning run to four matches and was their third successive victory on the road. Standing in their way of a Grand Final place is a table-topping Manchester...
Four Rio-bound swimmers based at the University of Bath and two targeting the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games have been selected in the Great Britain squad for next month’s LEN European Championships in London. Jazz Carlin, Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, Chris Walker-Hebborn and Chemical Engineering graduate Andrew Willis are among the 26 Team GB swimmers who will compete at the home Europeans as part of their Olympic Games preparations. British Swimming National Performance Director Chris Spice said: “This event...
Team Bath judoka Ben Fletcher is back in the automatic qualification places for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games after producing his best result at a senior major championships to date. The 24-year-old’s seventh-placed finish at the European Judo Championships in Kazan, Russia on Saturday lifted him back up to 29th in the Olympic qualification rankings for the -100kg weight category. With just one month of the two-year qualification period remaining and no more major tournaments...
A strength & conditioning coach at the University of Bath will attempt to break a world record at the Sports Training Village this week to raise money for Bristol Children’s Hospital, after it helped save the life of his friend’s baby daughter. Luke Vella is hoping to break the world record for the heaviest weight deadlifted in 60 seconds. The current record stands at 5,520kg, which Luke hopes to beat with a lift of 5,600kg. To achieve...
