Paul Blake and Sophie Kamlish victorious at IPC Athletics Grand Prix in Italy

Paul Blake posted the fastest time this year as the University of Bath-based athlete claimed T36 400m victory at the IPC Athletics Grand Prix in Grosseto, Italy. The London 2012 Paralympic Games double medalist crossed the line in 55.41, beating the previous best time of 56.26 he had set while winning the Grand Prix in Dubai back in February. Blake, who is coached by Rob Ellchuk, was also runner-up to Malaysia’s Mohamad Puzi in the...

15 June 2015

Anna Smith and Marcus Daniell go close to doubles tennis titles

Team Bath-MCTA Tennis players Anna Smith and Marcus Daniell went mighty close to recording tournament victories over the weekend in the build-up to Wimbledon 2015. Smith, pictured, and partner Jocelyn Rae – Britain’s Federation Cup doubles pairing – were only denied their first WTA title by a third-set tie-break defeat to American pair Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Smith in the final of the Aegon Nottingham Open. And New Zealander Daniell teamed up with Brazil’s Marcelo...

15 June 2015

Tom Toolis is highest-placed Brit at Modern Pentathlon World Cup Final

University of Bath student Tom Toolis was the highest-ranked Pentathlon GB athlete at the weekend’s World Cup Final in Minsk, Belarus. Toolis, who is studying Sport & Exercise Science, overtook team-mate Jamie Cooke to finish 22nd overall on Saturday. Former World Junior Champion Cooke was two places further back, while Sports Performance student Joe Evans came home in 32nd place. Victory went to Italy’s Riccardo De Luca, who claimed the sole Rio 2016 Olympic qualification...

15 June 2015

Siobhan-Marie O’Connor and Jazz Carlin continue Bath gold rush in Mare Nostrum

Siobhan-Marie O’Connor got the better of World and European champion Katinka Hosszu as she struck gold during another successful evening for University of Bath-based swimmers at the Mare Nostrum Series in Barcelona. Jazz Carlin won her second gold of the meeting, and her fourth of the week, in the 400m freestyle and Chris Walker-Hebborn followed up his previous day’s 50m backstroke gold with a hard-fought silver in the 100m race. O’Connor – coached by Dave...

12 June 2015

Paul Blake, Katrina Hart and Sophie Kamlish set for IPC Athletics Grand Prix in Italy

World champion Paul Blake will be looking to record his second IPC Athletics Grand Prix victory of 2015 when University of Bath-based athletes compete in Grosseto, Italy this weekend. The double London 2012 Paralympic Games medalist, coached at the Sports Training Village by Rob Ellchuk, tops the T36 400m rankings this year after clocking 56.26 to win in Dubai in February. Blake will also contest the T36 100m this weekend, while training partner and fellow...

12 June 2015

Jazz Carlin and Chris Walker-Hebborn bag Barcelona titles as swimmers continue Mare Nostrum success

Jazz Carlin continued her golden streak and Chris Walker-Hebborn was also victorious as University of Bath-based swimmers won four medals in Barcelona on Wednesday. It was the latest stage of the Mare Nostrum Series, in which Carlin had won 400m and 1,500m freestyle gold in Canet, France over the weekend. Her latest success came in the 800m freestyle, with Carlin – coached by Dave McNulty at the Bath National Training Centre – tracking fellow Brit...

11 June 2015

Official Pool Opening Crowns Two Decades of Swimming Success

The University of Bath has provided a springboard to Olympic, Paralympic, World, Commonwealth and European success for a host of swimmers since being established as a high-performance training centre in the 1990s. From Paul Palmer’s breakthrough silver medal at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games to British Swimming’s formation of a National Centre at the Sports Training Village, the University of Bath has become synonymous with excellence in the pool. Following the official opening of the...

10 June 2015

Bath move helping Cyprus swimmer Thomas Tsiopanis make a splash on world stage

Cypriot swimmer Thomas Tsiopanis believes his move to the University of Bath has provided him with the perfect springboard to compete at the highest level. Tsiopanis – who celebrates his 22nd birthday on Wednesday – left his homeland in September to begin a Sports Performance degree course and train with head swimming coach Mark Skimming’s performance group. He made the switch on the advice of compatriots Anastasia Christoforou and Omiros Zagkas, two Bath graduates who...

10 June 2015

Double gold for Jazz Carlin as Bath swimmers impress in Canet leg of Mare Nostrum Series

Jazz Carlin won two gold medals as swimmers from the British Swimming National Centre at the University of Bath competed in the Canet, France leg of the Mare Nostrum Series over the weekend. The European and Commonwealth champion, who moved to the Sports Training Village in the autumn, clocked 16:09.69 – the eighth-fastest time in the world this year – to win the 1,500m freestyle on Saturday. She then claimed victory in Sunday’s 400m freestyle...

08 June 2015

Season’s best times for Eilidh Child and Lawrence Clarke in Diamond League meetings

University of Bath-based athletes Eilidh Child and Lawrence Clarke both set season’s best times during a busy week of IAAF Diamond League action. European 400m hurdles champion Child clocked 54.84 to finish third in the Golden Gala in Rome on Thursday, then placed fourth at Sunday’s Birmingham Grand Prix in 55.14. “It was quite close and I am happy technically, although it was quite windy,” said Child – coached by Malcolm Arnold at the Sports...

08 June 2015