Selections Reflect Strong Pathway for Scottish Swimming

“Our sport is in excellent health, we have strong uptake of our new LTS scheme, a growing membership base and some very encouraging international results and selections." Forbes Dunlop, Chief Executive Officer

Scottish aquatic athletes have featured heavily in the Team GB selections for this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio. The swim team, which will compete in Rio is made up of over 30% of Scottish athletes, the Para Swim team includes 12-year old Abby Kane and Grace Reid’s selection for the Diving team is the first Scottish Olympic diver for over 60 years.

The Olympic and Paralympic athletes were joined by other up and coming Scottish athletes when they competed at the recent LEN European Championships in London and the IPC European Championships in Portugal in May. Across the two championships Scots won a total of 20 medals.

Scottish Swimming Performance Director, Ally Whike said,

“I am delighted for the athletes, their coaches, families and support teams. The selections and results tell us that what we are doing is working, however we cannot become complacent - our focus has always been to support coaches  and programmes help athletes perform in the summer when it counts. We are also clear that we need to continue to invest in, develop and improve all elements of our sport if we are to enjoy success in the future.”

The wider development of the sport is also in good health with membership numbers growing year on year through the network of 160 clubs. The majority of those clubs are achieving the Governing Body SwiMark and SwiMark Plus accreditation, recognising good operating and governance practice.

At the introductory level, Scottish Swimming launched its National Framework for Swimming in April 2015. The Framework focusses on improving the quality of Learn to Swim programmes and in year one has seen nearly half of the Local Authority / Leisure Trusts across Scotland signing up.

CEO Forbes Dunlop commented,

“Our sport is in excellent health, we have strong uptake of our new LTS scheme, a growing membership base and some very encouraging international results and selections; I would like to thank our members and partners, our success is down to their commitment and support.

“While we still have a number of challenges to face, in particular we feel strongly that every child should have the opportunity to learn to swim,  we continue to work with the Scottish Government on this aspiration and help ensure that swimming is a sport for all, a sport for life.”

Athletes heading to Rio continue their training ahead of the preparation camp in Brazil, with the majority of swimmers competing at the Olympic and Paralympic Games competing at the forthcoming Scottish National Open Swimming Championships at Tollcross International Swimming Centre from 30 June to 3 July 2016.

Members of the media are invited to attend a lunch on Friday 1 July from 12pm - 2pm and interview selected athletes (Olympians/Paralympians), coaches and Scottish Swimming representatives. Please RSVP to Kirsten Phillips by 12pm Monday 27 June to confirm your attendance: k.phillips@scottishswimming.com or 07730661788. 

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Notes:

The Scottish National Open Swimming Championships will be held at Tollcross International Swimming Centre in Glasgow from 30 June to 3^rd July. Team GB swimmers will be in attendance as part of their final preparation for Rio. Media enquiries or accreditation form can be submitted here: http://www.scottishswimming.com/media.aspx

The draft programme for the Scottish National Open Swimming Championships can be found here: http://swimscotland.co.uk/

A copy of Scottish Swimming’s Corporate Plan (2015-2021) can be viewed here: http://www.scottishswimming.com/media/1410135/CorporatePlan2015_2021Web.pdf

 

Scottish Swimmers on Teams to Rio:

Athlete	Club	Coach
Camilla Hattersley	City of Glasgow Swim Team	Ian Wright
Hannah Miley	Garioch	Patrick Miley
Craig Benson	University of Stirling	Ben Higson
Ross Murdoch	University of Stirling	Ben Higson
Robbie Renwick	University of Stirling	Steven Tigg
Duncan Scott	University of Stirling	Steven Tigg
Stephen Milne	Perth City	Ann Dickson
Grace Reid	Edinburgh Diving Club	Jen Leeming
* Dan Wallace	Warrender Baths Club/Florida Gators	Laurel Bailey/Jolyon Finck
Abby Kane	Ren 96	Sharon McIntyre
Stephen Clegg	East Lothian Swim Team	Bruce Halloran
Andrew Mullen	Ren 96/ Manchester NPC	Graeme Smith
Scott Quin	Warrender Baths Club	Laurel Bailey/Kris Gilchrist

* Please note that Dan Wallace is not in attendance at the Scottish National Open Swimming Championships