It is the groundbreaking talent identification and development scheme that set double Olympic Champions Heather Stanning and Helen Glover on their way to becoming two of Britain’s greatest-ever sportswomen. Now the GB Rowing Team Start Programme based at the University of Bath has an exciting, ambitious group of emerging rowers keen to follow in their wake as attention turns to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and beyond. Training and racing alongside students in the University...
Outstanding success at the Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games plus the visit of sporting and actual royalty ensured that the University of Bath’s 50th anniversary was celebrated in fitting style during 2016. When the University received Royal Charter status on October 25, 1966, there were no sporting facilities on the Claverton Down campus. Five decades later, it has developed into what Director of Sport Stephen Baddeley believes is “the most vibrant, exciting and dynamic sporting...
Put yourself in the shoes of an athlete heading to a major Games: you're weeks away from potentially the biggest competition of your life, you're up against the most successful rivals in the world and all you want to do is train as hard as you can in order to give your event the best shot possible. There's only one problem: training harder than ever severely runs the risk of injury. The specialists in charge...
Nutrition's critical relationship with athlete performance has heightened in focus over the past decade and at major events such as Rio 2016, its role in athlete preparation is demonstrated on the world stage. Athletes such as modern pentathlete Joe Choong, who begins his Olympic Games on Thursday (August 18), bases his training regime around a dedicated and tailored diet - something he believes can't be overstated in importance when competing at the top level. "I believe nutrition is...
From sport psychologists to specialised coaching techniques which replicate the pressure of competition, University of Bath-based athletes dedicate an immense amount of time to preparing for the clinical moments faced at an Olympic Games. Having the mental edge can often separate champions from participants and later this week University of Bath-based modern pentathletes, including world number one Jamie Cooke, will have their psychological toughness challenged in arguably one of the most mentally testing events of the...
The world class facilities at the Sports Training Village today welcomed the South West's top young sporting talent as part of Sport England's School Games Festival. School pupils from Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucester who had qualified through previous competitions took part in the regional event, which was organised by the West of England Sports Trust (Wesport). The event was opened by London 2012 shooter Georgina Geikie - the...
Qualifying for an Olympic Games is unquestionably an outstanding achievement. Only a handful of the world’s most talented athletes will ever have the privilege of representing their country at the biggest sporting event on the planet. So to do so while being in the middle of a full-time University degree course is an almost incomprehensible accomplishment. But that’s exactly what modern pentathlete Joe Choong accomplished after the University of Bath Mathematics student was announced in the Pentathlon...
Prince Harry will today (January 29) pay a special visit to the University of Bath's Sports Training Village to mark the start of British trials for the Invictus Games, the charity of which he is president. Almost 200 athletes are expected at the STV from January 29-31 when trials across 10 sports, including rowing, swimming and wheelchair rugby, will take place. Competitors will vie to represent Great Britain at the 2016 Invictus Games which will be...
More than 200 athletes, coaches and sport specialists flocked from across the UK and Europe on Friday (January 22) to the University of Bath for the Sports Performance Conference organised by Team Bath athlete Eva Piatrikova. The ground-breaking day featured expert talks, analysis and networking focusing on the importance of direct and constructive links between research and performance in sport. Professors from as far as Vrije Universiteit Brussels, the University of Central Lancashire and Loughborough University joined University of...
Amongst the outstanding athletes who have made the Sports Training Village their training base is Eva Piatrikova - a Slovakian swimmer-cum-triathlete with big ambitions of a future in sports performance. Her past three years have been spent as an athlete, student and even a staff member at the University of Bath - years she describes as "the best decision I've ever made". And now she is set to lead the largest Sports Performance conference the University has...
