Rio 2016: Final flourish awaits Vicky Thornley and Katherine Grainger after ‘best row yet’

Former University of Bath-based rower Vicky Thornley will contest her second Olympic final on Thursday after she and Katherine Grainger produced their best performance yet in the women’s double scull in Tuesday’s Rio 2016 semi-finals. After a difficult season in which their partnership was dissolved then reformed after they failed to secure a place in the women’s eight, Thornley and defending champion Grainger looked in impressive form for Team GB as they secured a strong second...

09 August 2016

Rio 2016: Siobhan-Marie O’Connor races into swimming final in record-breaking style

Siobhan-Marie O’Connor will be looking to emulate fellow University of Bath-based swimmer Jazz Carlin by getting on the podium at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The 20-year-old looked in fantastic form as she reduced her own women’s 200m individual medley British record to 2:07.57 to qualify fastest overall for the final, taking place at 3.29am BST. “I’m really pleased because I’ve been trying to go under 2:08 for...

09 August 2016

Rio 2016: Defending champs Helen Glover and Heather Stanning dig deep for heat win

“We did what we needed to do” – that was what defending champions Helen Glover and Heather Stanning had to say after progressing to the women’s pair semi-finals at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The London 2012 gold-medallists, who both learnt to row at the University of Bath, are unbeaten in the pair since 2011 but saw that record put under threat by Denmark’s Hedvig Rasmussen and Anne Andersen in Monday’s heats. The Danes led...

09 August 2016

Rio 2016: Heartbreak for rugby sevens alumni as Team GB miss out on medal

There was heartbreak for University of Bath alumni Natasha Hunt and Amy Wilson Hardy as Team GB’s women fell short of a historic rugby sevens medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. After recording convincing wins in their three group matches and the quarter-final against Fiji, Team GB’s progress was halted at the semi-final stages by an impressive New Zealand outfit. They still had a chance of winning a bronze medal but could not get...

09 August 2016

“I’m so happy!” – swimmer Jazz Carlin wins superb silver at Rio 2016 Olympic Games

University of Bath-based swimmer Jazz Carlin admitted she was “gobsmacked” after smashing her lifetime best to win 400m freestyle silver at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Just ten minutes after seeing fellow swimmer Adam Peaty win Team GB’s first gold of the Games, Carlin produced a magnificent performance to finish runner-up to Katie Ledecky of the United States who set a new world record of 3:56.46. Carlin came under pressure from another American, Leah Smith,...

08 August 2016

Rio 2016: Graduates among the tries as rugby seven women close in on medal

University of Bath graduates Natasha Hunt (left) and Amy Wilson Hardy (right) will be playing for a medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Monday after a sparkling weekend for the Team GB women’s rugby sevens team. Four big wins – three in the group stages and a 26-7 success against Fiji in the quarter-finals – have put GB through to a last-four meeting with New Zealand (7pm BST). Should they win, Britain will...

08 August 2016

Rio 2016: Tennis ace Marcus Daniell goes down fighting on Olympic debut

Team Bath MCTA Tennis player Marcus Daniell went mighty close to pulling off a shock result while representing New Zealand in the first round of the men’s doubles at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Sunday. Daniell and partner Michael Venus got off to a storming start against the number seven seeds from Canada, Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil, as they won the first set 6-4. However, their opponents levelled by winning the second set...

08 August 2016

Swim coach Mark Skimming taking on challenge of Everest proportions for children’s hospital

Mark Skimming, head swimming coach at the University of Bath, is used to helping students and athletes reach their peak physical condition. But this year he has also been training for his own monumental challenge - trekking 6,000m to Everest base camp to raise funds for the hospital that saved his young son. Albert, now three, was born 13 weeks early and spent his first three months in intensive care after been diagnosed with chronic lung disease. He has...

03 August 2016

Sprinters Joel Fearon, Sophie Kamlish and Polly Maton race into record books at English Champs

Joel Fearon, an athlete with the University of Bath-based Great Britain Bobsleigh squad, ran the joint third-fastest 100m ever by a Briton at the English Athletics Championships.  And fellow sprinters Sophie Kamlish and Polly Maton celebrated their ParalympicsGB selections for Rio 2016 by smashing their personal bests in Bedford. Fearon, part of the four-man bobsleigh team that finished fifth at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games, ran 9.96 for victory on Saturday – the fastest time...

02 August 2016

Team Bath Netball players and coach head to Australia as World Youth Cup countdown begins

Alana John (left) and Paige Reed (right) will become the latest Team Bath Netball players to represent their country when they go on tour with England Netball U21s this week. They will head to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra to take part in matches against Australian and New Zealand sides from August 4-15. Team Bath Netball Assistant Coach Emily Perry will also add to her international experience when she assists Head Coach Tamsin Greenway on...

01 August 2016