World Cup debutant, Aquatics GB Champs medallist and history-making rugby captain are latest Team Bath Rengen Athletes of the Month
Pentathlete Poppy Clark, swimmer Christian Ryan and rugby player Max Pearce are the latest winners of the Team Bath Rengen Athlete of the Month award.
All three student-athletes study and train at the University of Bath, where they are supported in their dual careers by the Student Performance Sport Breakthrough scheme.
Biochemistry student Clark, who trains with Pentathlon GB at their Team Bath Sports Training Village national base, won the March award after recording an excellent top-10 finish on her UIPM Pentathlon World Cup senior debut in Cairo.
She said: “This is my first year stepping up onto the senior circuit and I’m really grateful to Team Bath for giving me this award, it means a lot.”
Mathematics student Ryan, who represented Great Britain at the 2025 World University Games, took the April accolade after his impressive performances at the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships in London.
As well as winning 200m breaststroke bronze in 2:12.09, Ryan – who trains with the University’s Student Performance Sport Swimming Squad in the STV’s 50m pool – placed fifth in the 100m breaststroke behind double Olympic Champion Adam Ramsay-Peaty.
“I came away with lots of PBs and I’ve seen massive improvement over my three years at Bath,” said Ryan. “I’m looking forward to hopefully making big teams and big competitions in the future.”
Athlete of the Month for May was Sports Performance student Pearce, who captained the University men’s 1st XV to a historic BUCS Super Rugby league and cup double before leading England Students to a thrilling victory over French Universities in the 2026 edition of Le Crunch.
Pearce, who graduates this summer, said: “I’ve had a good four years with the University and it obviously ended very well, winning the league and cup. I’m now going to be full-time with Bath Rugby and I’m thankful for everything the University has been able to provide me.”
The award winners were each presented with certificates and a Built For Athletes backpack by University of Bath Director of Sport Stephen Baddeley and Sarah Baker of Rengen, which supports both the Athlete of the Month award and the Student Performance Sport Breakthrough programme. The presentation took place at Rengen House, the company’s Bath city centre headquarters on Argyle Street which provides a friendly, flexible space for co-working, meetings and events.
Rengen, partners of Team Bath, have extensive experience in the development of boutique purpose-built student accommodation, residential accommodation and commercial units. Find out more by visiting rengendevelopments.com and rengenlettings.com.
More than 200 University of Bath student-athletes receive support through the Student Performance Sport programme. Visit teambath.com/student-performance-sport for more information.
