Long-distance learning at University of Bath pays off for Rio-bound Emily Diamond

Sprinter Emily Diamond is benefitting from the ultimate long-distance learning course at the University of Bath as she prepares to make her Olympic debut at Rio 2016. While the 25-year-old is based at the Sports Training Village, her coach for the past 12 months, Jared Deacon, lives in Scotland and works with Edinburgh Rugby. But thanks to the wonders of modern technology, they have put together a training programme that has seen 400m runner Diamond...

07 July 2016

Anna Smith’s Wimbledon adventure ends as Team Bath coach Melanie South takes on Grand Slam winners

Anna Smith’s Wimbledon adventure has come to an end for 2016 after the Team Bath MCTA Tennis player and partner Neal Skupski were knocked out of the mixed doubles competition. They went into Wednesday’s match against Aisam Qureshi of Pakistan and Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova on a high after recovering from 5-2 down in the final set to stun top seeds Ivan Dodig (Croatia) and Sania Mirza (India). However, despite bouncing back from an early break in...

07 July 2016

Students past and present team up for top-ten finish at European Championships

James Myatt and Georgia Pipes, University of Bath students past and present, teamed up to finish eighth in the mixed relay at the Modern Pentathlon European Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. The day started in the pool with Sociology student Pipes and Business Administration graduate Myatt (pictured) recording a time of 2:03.62, leaving them in ninth position at the end of the opening discipline. The Pentathlon GB duo then recorded 22 victories and 22 defeats in the...

07 July 2016

Over 1,300 of the region’s most talented young athletes compete in Wesport School Games Festival at the STV

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...

06 July 2016

Sporting scholar Jay Lelliott swaps pool for open-water – and earns GB Euro call-up

University of Bath sporting scholar Jay Lelliott will make his international open-water swimming debut next week after being selected to represent Britain at the LEN European Marathon Swimming Championships.  The Sports Performance student will contest both the 5km individual and team events at the championships, taking place at Hoorn in the Netherlands from July 10-14. It is a new challenge for Lelliott, who has represented Britain in the pool but only tried open-water swimming for...

06 July 2016

Jamie Cooke and Joe Choong so close to Euro medal in final Rio 2016 run-out

Jamie Cooke and University of Bath student Joe Choong narrowly missed out on a medal at Modern Pentathlon European Championships in their final competitive outing before the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The Pentathlon GB duo finished fourth in the men’s relay in Sofia, Bulgaria on Tuesday, just one second behind the bronze-medallists from Poland. Russia and the Czech Republic took gold and silver respectively after a thrilling combined run/shoot. Cooke and Choong’s combined 200m freestyle...

06 July 2016

Team Bath tennis coach Melanie South to face Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon

Team Bath MCTA Tennis coach Melanie South will take on Wimbledon legend Martina Navratilova at SW19 on Wednesday after receiving a late call-up into the ladies’ invitational doubles competition. South, who was ranked in the world’s top 100 during her playing career, will partner fellow Brit Anne Keothavong against nine-time ladies’ singles champion Navratilova and Selima Sfar on Number 3 Court at 11.30am. Marion Bartoli, the 2013 Wimbledon champion, was due to partner Keothavong in...

06 July 2016

Remarkable Wimbledon recovery sees Team Bath MCTA’s Anna Smith stun number-one seeds

Team Bath MCTA Tennis player Anna Smith is celebrating arguably the best result of her career after she and mixed doubles partner Neal Skupski beat the number one seeds at Wimbledon.  Smith and Skupski looked to be heading for a valiant second-round exit to Croatia’s Ivan Dodig and Sania Mirza of Indonesia when they trailed 5-2 in the third and final set. However, the Brits then reeled off five successive games – saving four match...

05 July 2016

On top of the world and now off to Rio – Piers Gilliver’s ParalympicsGB place confirmed

Piers Gilliver – the world’s number-one ranked wheelchair fencer – today became the latest University of Bath-based athlete to be selected for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. The 21-year-old has enjoyed tremendous success during the past two years, winning nine medals in 12 international competitions – including three back-to-back World Cup titles – to comfortably finish top of the epee qualifying rankings. “I am so happy to be part of the ParalympicsGB team for Rio...

05 July 2016

Record-breaking round-off to pre-Rio racing for swimmer Siobhan-Marie O’Connor

University of Bath-based swimmer Siobhan-Marie O’Connor smashed the British 100m breaststroke record on her last competitive outing before the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Swimming at the Scottish National Open Swimming Championships, the 20-year-old dominated throughout and touched the wall in 1:06.34 – beating the previous record set in the same Tollcross International Swimming Centre pool by Sophie Taylor during the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. O’Connor admitted she was surprised by the time, especially as she...

04 July 2016