Wallabies start Rugby World Cup warm-up at “wonderful” University of Bath

Captain Stephen Moore has praised the "terrific facilities" at the University of Bath after two-time Rugby World Cup winners Australia staged their first training session at the Team Base on Tuesday. The Wallabies, led by Head Coach Michael Cheika, were put through their paces on one of the Sports Training Village’s outstanding outdoor pitches in the morning. Star names such as full-back Israel Falou, winger Matt Giteau and flankers David Pocock and Michael Hooper then...

15 September 2015

Former England coach Anna Mayes reignites Team Bath Netball coaching partnership with Jess Thirlby

Anna Mayes (now Anna Stembridge) and Jess Thirlby are set to reunite in a strong coaching line-up announced today by Team Bath Netball’s 2015-2016 Vitality Superleague franchise. Stembridge joins the Carter Jonas-backed University of Bath-based franchise as Head Coach whilst Thirlby steps into the role of Director of Netball. The duo will form the main coaching team, with Thirlby (pictured, right) appearing on the bench alongside Mayes (left) on match days. Other technical and guest...

15 September 2015

University coach Rob Webber in England squad for Rugby World Cup opener

University of Bath assistant rugby coach Rob Webber has been named in the England match-day 23 for Friday’s opening Rugby World Cup fixture against Fiji at Twickenham. The hooker is joined on the replacements bench by fellow Bath Rugby player Sam Burgess, while club colleagues George Ford, Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson are all in the starting XV. Webber has assisted Aaron James, the University’s Head of Rugby, with coaching the student teams for the...

14 September 2015

Olympic champion Mark Lewis-Francis joins British Bobsleigh programme at University of Bath

Mark Lewis-Francis is determined to add a Winter Olympic medal to his Summer Olympic gold after joining the British Bobsleigh squad, based at the University of Bath. The 33-year-old was part of the Great Britain men’s 4x100m relay team, along with University of Bath sprinter Jason Gardener, which famously won gold at the Athens 2004 Games. Now he has swapped the athletics track for the push track at the £30million Sports Training Village as he...

14 September 2015

Judo bronze for Emmanuel Nartey at All-Africa Games

Team Bath Judo Club’s Emmanuel Nartey has won a bronze medal while representing Ghana at the 2015 All-Africa Games in Brazzaville, Congo. Nartey, coached by Juergen Klinger at the University of Bath Sports Training Village, needed just 28 seconds to beat Tunisia’s Hamza Barhoumi by ippon in the fight for third place in the under-73kg category. The London 2012 Olympian had also started the competition with a quick-fire Pool C victory, against Gabon’s Pierre Ginvard...

14 September 2015

Wallabies join long list of national teams to train at University of Bath

When Australia arrive at their Rugby World Cup training camp at the University of Bath next week, they will become the latest national team to hone their preparations for a major championships at the world-class Sports Training Village. It was the training base for the England rugby union team during Brian Ashton’s reign as head coach, which included the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France. England were defending champions at the time and went on...

11 September 2015

Australia heading to University of Bath in high spirits ahead of Rugby World Cup

Australia already have two Rugby World Cup wins to their name – and they will be honing their preparations for a third crown at the University of Bath next week. The £30million Sports Training Village is the official Team Base for the Wallabies, who will utilise the venue’s world-class training and sports science facilities ahead of their opening match of the 2015 tournament against Fiji on Wednesday, September 23. Australia will arrive in the UK...

10 September 2015

Olympic champions among elite sportspeople at Sports Training Village for BAC Athletes Day

A host of Olympic, Paralympic and world-class sports people gathered at the University of Bath on Wednesday to take part in the British Athletes Commission’s first Athletes Day. Up-and-coming stars across a wide range of sports – from football to fencing, swimming to sailing, dressage to diving – also attended the event which focused on dealing with sponsors, agents and the media. The day was run by Anna Watkins, the rower who famously won double...

09 September 2015

Bath Graduate’s World gold hailed as “amongst the best of all time”

Sir David Tanner, Britain’s rowing chief, has hailed the World Championships women’s pair gold won by University of Bath graduate Heather Stanning and Bath Minerva’s Helen Glover as  “one of the best GB performances of all-time”. “That was utterly exceptional”, said Tanner of the pairs dominant race to gold, holding off New Zealand and the USA. Gold for Glover and Stanning on the world stage can sometimes be taken for granted. The Olympic, World and...

05 September 2015

Judo stars Ben Fletcher and Gemma Gibbons bag crucial Olympic qualifying points at World Championships

Team Bath Judo's Ben Fletcher built on his first-ever Grand Prix medal in July by reaching the last-16 at the 2015 World Judo Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan. Fletcher's progress, which was ended by eventual-finalist German Frey Karl-Richard, meant he has now earned enough qualification points to book a spot in the 'green zone' for Olympic qualifying - occupied by athletes who are in a direct qualification position. 23-year-old Fletcher, who trains under Juergen Klinger at...

03 September 2015