Anna Hopkin win Sports Personality prize as 2018 Blues Awards celebrate both student sport and Winter Olympics
Swimmer Anna Hopkin has capped an excellent few months of competition by being voted by her fellow students as the University of Bath Sports Personality of the Year at the 2018 Blues Awards – the annual celebration of student sport.
The Sports & Exercise Science student and MJ Church Ambassador, also supported by a Thompson Education Trust Scholarship, received the accolade after representing her country at both the 2017 World University Games in Taipei and the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia, where she won 4x100m freestyle relay bronze.
Hopkin, coached by Mark Skimming in the University’s student-swimming squad, has also won a host of medals and points for Bath in BUCS [British Universities & Colleges Sport] competition.
The Sports Personality award was voted on by Students’ Union members from a shortlist of four that also included men’s 1st XV captain Will Britton (rugby), Ryan Jones (water polo) and Matt Pollock (volleyball).
Welsh international Jones did receive the David VandeLinde Prize – recognising sporting accomplishment, leadership and academic success – along with volleyball player and coach Tom Sawko.
Another volleyball player, Kristian Nedyalkov, received the Gethin Jones Bevan Award for Club Member of the Year and the Tugendhat Trophy for Sporting Endeavour went to Becky Wilde after she successfully made the transition to rowing this year.
She is part of the GB Rowing Team Start programme coached by Dan Harris, who received the Ivor Powell Award for Excellence in Coaching. Ryan Hylands of the University of Bath Trampoline Club took the SU Bath Sport Volunteer Coach of the Year accolade.
The mixed karate squad was named as BUCS Team of the Year after winning the national BUCS title and a host of individual medals, while fencing was recognised as Club of the Year after more than doubling their number of members during the past two years.
All of the awards were presented by the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Glynis Breakwell, who also awarded Honorary Blues to the University-based winter sport athletes who competed at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games.
Among those to receive Honorary Blues were British Skeleton medallist Laura Deas and aerial skier Lloyd Wallace, a Sports Performance graduate who was guest speaker on the evening. The Blues Awards took place at the Assembly Rooms in Bath.
Click here to see a full list of 2018 Blues Awards winners and more pictures from the event.
