SCOTTISH Swimming would like to congratulate the Olympic swimmers, divers, their coaches, support teams and families for the outstanding performances in Rio.
These 2016 Olympic Games have been the most successful Games for British Swimming in 108 years and Scots have played a significant part.
Over 30 per cent of the swim team was made up of Scots and the diving team had Scotland’s first diver in over 60 years qualifying for Rio.
However, selection was never the end goal. Performing at the Games was always what had been planned for and the team certainly rose to the occasion: silver medals for Duncan Scott, Stephen Milne, Robbie Renwick and Dan Wallace in the 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay, another silver for Duncan in the 4 x 100 Medley Relay; Duncan, Dan and Hannah Miley qualifying and competing in individual event finals and Grace Reid qualifying for and competing in the women’s 3M Spring Board final.
Scottish Swimming performance director, Ally Whike, reflected on the success. He said: “The success can be attributed to a range of factors. First and foremost, it is down to the commitment, dedication and hard work of the individual athletes over many years along with the support they receive from their families.
“Secondly, we have excellent coaches in Scotland and Scottish Swimming is very proud of the investment we have made at all levels of coaching to help raise the standards and expectations in the sport – the wider support teams provided primarily by the sportscotland institute working in conjunction with the athletes and coaches.
“Finally, Scottish Swimming has strong partnerships with member clubs, volunteers, local authorities, leisure trusts, universities, British Swimming and sportscotland.
“Over the last 15 years, these partnerships have evolved to create a network of over 160 clubs which provide excellent opportunities from early competitive swimming to Olympic and Paralympic Performance.
“Performances like those witnessed in Rio take years of investment in both the system and the athlete and coach and we would like to thank every person and organisation who has been part of and will continue to be part of our journey.”
Scottish Swimming CEO, Forbes Dunlop, added: “Scottish Swimming’s vision is Everyone can Swim. We hope the performances of our Olympic athletes and in a few weeks time, our Paralympic athletes, will encourage and inspire more people to swim.
“In particular, we are passionate about all children being given the opportunity to learn to swim and we continue to work with schools, Local Authorities, Leisure Trusts and the Scottish Government to deliver against this ambition.”
ENDS
Scottish Swimming is the governing body for swimming, diving, masters swimming, open water swimming, synchronised swimming and water polo in Scotland.
Swimming is a sport for all and we are committed to developing the sport in an inclusive, equitable and fair way. Our vision is Everyone Can Swim.
Our mission is to inspire our members and partners in the development of aquatics, providing leadership and expert support, resulting in more people taking part and reaching their full potential.
For more information relating to this statement, please contact Kirsten Phillips, communications manager at Scottish Swimming at k.phillips@scottishswimming.com 01786 466533 or Helen Plank, marketing manager at h.plank@scottishswimming.com 01786 466464.
ENDS
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Scottish Swimming contact details…
Contact: Helen Plank
Phone: 07702872964
Email: h.plank@scottishswimming.com
Website: http://www.scottishswimming.com
