Team GB select University of Bath alumnae and former Team Bath Buccs player in Tokyo Olympic rugby sevens and hockey squads
University of Bath graduates Deborah Fleming and Natasha Hunt have today been named in the Team GB women’s rugby sevens squad for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Former Team Bath Buccaneers player Liam Sanford has also been selected in the Team GB men’s hockey squad for this summer’s rescheduled Games.
It will be a first Olympics for Sport & Social Sciences graduate Fleming (pictured), who represented the University in both netball and athletics – winning sprint medals for the Blue and Gold at the 2010 and 2011 BUCS Championships – before switching to rugby sevens through the UK Sport Talent Transfer Programme, Power2Podium.
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She has been a full-time member of the England Sevens squad since 2017 and, alongside Hunt, helped England win bronze at the first-ever Commonwealth Games rugby sevens tournament in 2018.
Hunt, who studied Coach Education & Sports Development from 2007-2010, represented Great Britain at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and has extensive experience for England in both the seven and 15-a-side formats.
She represented the University of Bath Women’s Rugby team in British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) competition and was supported by the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) during her studies.
Fleming and Hunt join fellow University of Bath graduates Anna Hopkin, Calum Jarvis (both swimming) and Sara Parfett (rowing) in being officially selected for the Tokyo Olympics by Team GB. Stuart Wood has been named in the ParalympicsGB paracanoeing squad for the Paralympic Games.
Meanwhile, former Team Bath Buccaneers player Sanford is looking forward to making his Olympic bow this summer after being named among 12 debutants in a 16-strong GB men’s hockey squad.
Full-back Sanford made club history in 2017 when he became the first player to represent England at senior level while with Buccs.
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