Blues Awards 2018
The Annual Blues Awards took place at the Assembly Rooms on Wednesday 25 April 2018. It was a wonderful evening recognising the success and achievements of our sporting students.
The dedication shown by so many to reach the highest level in sport was clear for all to see. This commitment, drive, passion and enthusiasm is what defines the university experience for so many at Bath. These qualities are not solely reserved for our elite sports people, they can be seen every week in so many students. Whether that be in a BUCS 4th or 5th team, playing hard until the final moments of a league match, or a student taking part in a recreational session. The community that we have built around sport at Bath is something that we should be incredibly proud of.
Over 200 guests attended the evening including our VIP Olympic athletes, the Vice Chancellor Professor Dame Glynis Breakwell DBE DL, Peter Lambert, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching) as well as Chris Jennison Warden of the Blues.
We were also lucky to be joined by guest speaker Lloyd Wallace, a Bath Alumni who graduated last year. Lloyd who suffered an accident in training which left him in a coma, gave an inspirational talk after returning to training and competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang only 6 months after the accident.
As well as the Blues and Special Awards, the evening also saw the announcement of the Sports Personality of the year. This was a closely contended award voted on by current students and is always a highlight of the evening.
Award winners are highlighted below.
Winners - 2018
Full Blue
Full Blues are awarded to students who have competed for a University 1st team for two years along with two years’ representation at international level.
Kyle Gladwin - Hockey
Matthew Ming - Hockey
Lewis Fraser - Hockey
Peter Scott - Hockey
Becky Reed - Netball
Owen Bowerman - Sailing
Beatrix Perks - Ultimate
Ryan Jones - Water Polo
Honorary Blue
Will Germany
Since Will's arrival at the University of Bath, he has been an invaluable part of the club and the sport. Will has been a member of the men’s 1st team since his arrival, and using his extensive experience he helped the team to an unbeaten 2013/14 season in Western 1A and the trophy. Since then, as Captain then Chair, he has helped the team reach its highest premier league position of 3rd for the last two years. He also finished 6th at BUCS individuals this year out of 146 entries. Will has been competing domestically as well, securing another 6th at the Welsh Open. During his time at the university, he has twice been selected for Student 5 Nations both times being a member of the winning epee and England teams.
Will helped start a revolution of Fencing at Bath by securing more training times in the purpose built salle, professionalising the training program for the elite fencers and helping to bring in experienced coaches and sparring partners to regularly train together. It is however as Chair that Will has really excelled. This year he helped 126 students join the club which is almost 3 times as many as two years ago and almost double the year’s target. Whilst chair, Will lobbied for and acquired 2 more teams for Fencing including the M2 team which not only won their league at the first attempt but also acts as a hitherto absent stepping stone for beginner and intermediate fencers into the world of competitive fencing. Will's determination and dedication to the club is well summarized by his winning of the Chris Potter Memorial Bursary for services to student sport. He was specifically credited for work in bridging the gap between beginner and advanced sections of the club. This is a well-earned national recognition of his work. Will has shown himself to be a great coach, helping beginners and more advanced fencers alike. His commitment to the club as a member, competitor, captain and chairman has no equal.
Will Germany is a true role model for the fencing club. He has consistently gone far beyond the call of duty and has positively impacted the club at every level. Will’s commitment to the club is astounding and he is always willing to help its members with issues big or small. In truth, his contribution to the fencing club cannot be easily summarised but if there is anyone who has given their heart and soul to the club.
Ed Colman-Roberts
Arriving at the University as III Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo, and a I Degree Black Belt in Kickboxing, Ed has competed internationally as part of both the PUMA and ITF England team, where he has won a great deal of titles as both a junior and an adult, representing the University at the highest levels of competition. Ed joined the committee, serving as Men’s Captain, then Chair. Whilst serving as Men’s Captain and Chair, he voluntarily coached 4-10 hours a week, as well as leading the club to one it’s most successful years ever, with record medals, awards and increased membership numbers. The coaching he provided was of the highest quality, as well as organising seminars with fellow international athletes Jason Bint and Ryan Powseland, British MMA pioneer Mark Weir and one of the founders of Kickboxing Bill “Superfoot” Wallace.
As a result of his strong ties to PUMA, and as a member of their national team, Ed was able to significantly improve the links between the University Kickboxing Club and its governing body. These have enabled the club to improve both the quality of the coaching provision and the inclusivity of the club. This high quality coaching helped Bath to have record numbers of kickboxers competing both nationally and internationally and 3 of Bath’s athletes gained their Black Belts, including the first female athlete to progress from White Belt to Black Belt whilst at the University. Under his guidance, the club hosted a successful Fight Night and Boot Camp, ensuring that the club was not only competitive but welcoming and inclusive. As well as the huge amounts of time Ed devoted to the club, Ed also worked within the local community, coaching young children at a local Taekwondo School.
Since Graduating, Ed now runs his own successful Kickboxing and Taekwondo school and continues to support the University Kickboxing Club, acting as a judge at its Fight Night, supporting its recent Exhibitions and Sparring Event, and giving seminars to students.
Junshi Wace
Joining the club when she joined the University, Junshi became the second female athlete to start from a White Belt and earn her Black Belt whilst a student. She competed regularly for the university each year, winning trophies at national and international competitions, including reaching the final of the highest category at the National University Kickboxing Championships in her final year.
Alongside her personal training commitments, Junshi devoted significant amounts of time to serving the club as Social Secretary and Women's Captain, as well as taking on volunteering roles such as Events Manager, Secretary, and Chair, when needs arised.
Perhaps more impressive than her achievements in a ring are all her achievements away from it. During her time on committee, Junshi especially focused on improving the inclusivity and diversity of the club. In 2016-2017, she led the club in its achieving of the Inclusivity Award, becoming one of only 7 sports clubs to do so that year. One of her major focuses was on working to reduce fear of discrimination as a barrier to participation, particularly amongst women. She worked with other members of her committee to reduce the cost of participation, with discounts on equipment made available for club members, and subsidised competition entries. She was responsible for getting the club involved with the This Bath Girl Can campaign, organising a one off girls only session, open for members and non-members alike, which attracted over 70 people. She has left a legacy of a club made more inclusive to all members, and this can be seen through increased number of girls competing at the National University Kickboxing Championships this year.
Her ability and eagerness to learn kickboxing was almost unparalleled in the club, and she was known for her attitude – equal parts fun and responsibility to ensure the best for her club. This determination set a great example to the club, particularly the female members who are often more cautious about competing. Her attitude and position as women’s captain led to a surge in female competitors that is still evident today; increasing attendance and membership for females, who currently represent 50% of our committee.
Katrina Hughes
Over 6 years as an undergraduate and postgraduate student Katrina has been a member of the Netball club in both a playing and volunteering capacity, she also held the elected position within the SU Sport executive committee as Volunteer Recognition Officer in 2014-15.
As 2014/15 chair of the University of Bath netball Katrina significantly restructured the club's recreational offer by creating and organising the netball development league. The development league consists of 6 internal teams training and competing at a high standard throughout the season, bridging the performance gap between BUCS and inter-halls that had reduced netball participation in previous seasons. With each of the 6 teams coached by students who are able to further their coaching abilities, the league aids the technical progression of athletes, many of whom have consequently gone on to play BUCS. The league has increased the club's inclusivity as well as furthering social and performance integration between BUCS and recreational teams. Katrina has continued to support the league since its inception and 3 years later the development league has proven invaluable to the netball clubs ability to provide coaching and umpiring opportunities, increase membership, increase active social and netball participation and BUCS performance.
Katrina’s contribution to the netball club over 6 years includes organising an umpiring course for university students and the local community, organising charity events, organising an alumni event, hosting and organising a South West recreational netball tournament and provided a volunteering link between the university club and the Team Bath Superleague fixtures for 2 years. On the sports executive committee Katrina successfully organised and ran the volunteer recognition scheme to reward volunteers across Students’ Union sport as well as volunteering at events including snowball and varsity.
William Galloway
Will is coming to the end of his second year as the SU Sport Officer and over the course of the two years he has shown commitment and determination to ensure that students come first and his decisions have a positive impact on their experience.
Will understood the importance of how sport can play a key role in supporting students who suffer from mental health. As well as identifying opportunities in activities that students could access (outside of a normal club set up) he developed an action plan. This included the commitment from clubs towards the Mental Health Charter for Sport and Recreation in which all student sport’s clubs signed to show their commitment to the initiative.
Within the SU #NeverOK campaign Will led the way in involving sport clubs and identified the issues and concerns towards sexual harassment. Will has risen to the challenge and has broken down barriers with a number of committees who now recognise the issues and are keen to work with the SU to fight against sexual harassment.
Leading on from the above work, student sport has recently voted on a compulsory committee role (Welfare Officer) that will work with the SU to not only stamp out bullying and sexual harassment but will look at how we support members that have been affected and give students the confidence to stand up against it.
With so many development opportunities for committee members Will introduced a new training resource, he developed a conference style session that allows newly elected committee members to be trained in their roles over the course of one day, whilst also giving them access to inspirational leaders. Moving into its second year Will set up a Committee Training Review Group to ensure the conference continues to develop and meet the needs of our student leaders.
Will was elected into the BUCS Student Director position for the 2017/18 year, his involvement in development days and in particular the Physical Activity and Health Board has benefited all involved.
When the University did not support the role of a Sport Development Officer within student sport, Will took a business case to the SU trustees and was able to demonstrate the impact and importance of the role, so much so that they agreed to fund the post for 2 years with a view that evidence of its impact can be recorded and used to help secure the post permanently in the future.
Will’s understanding of sport at Bath across all levels has encouraged further collaboration between the student departments which ultimately improves the offer students receive.
PyeongChang 2018 & Rio 2016 Honorary Blues
Qualifying to represent your country at an Olympic or Paralympic Games is the greatest representative honour within sport. The Blues Committee wishes to honour their achievements by awarding an Honorary Blue to each of the athletes who either used the University of Bath as their training base during the year or years prior to 2016 and / or are University alumni.
PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Athletes
Aerial Skiing
Lloyd Wallace
Bobsleigh
Greg Cackett
Nick Gleeson
Brad Hall
Mica McNeill
Mica Moore
Toby Olubi
Skeleton
Laura Deas
Jackie Narracott
Jerry Rice
Rio 2016 Olympic Athletes
Modern Pentathlon
Jamie Cooke
Half Blue Award
Half Blues are awarded to students with junior international representation or podium finishes in BUCS whilst competing for a University first team.
Athletics - Bethany Close, Kaeshelle Cooke
Badminton - Devon Minnis, Rachel Fenner, Sona Raichoora
Fencing - Alessandro Giovannone
Hockey - Joel Hennell-Nealey
Karate - Ussama Nadeem, Jun-Yeong Kim, Luke Marrai, Asuka Peace, Robert Williams
Riding - Laura Simpson
Rugby (Union and League) - William Britton
Squash - Christoph Winzer
Swimming - Anna Hopkin
Triathlon - Elle Twentyman
Special Awards
Gethin John Bevan, Club Member of the Year
This award acknowledges that SU Sports clubs would not function without a substantial input from student volunteers.
Kristian Nedyalkov
Kris moved from his home country of Bulgaria to Bath to undertake a Masters in Mechanical Engineering with Manufacturing and Management. Kris immediately looked to join the volleyball club and since his first year has represented the Men's 1st Team.
His positivity and determination was immediately evident to committee members when he took the role of Chair this year, with early focus on cohesion of the committee. This led to a team, well equipped to tackle freshers week resulting in a 50% increase in club members.
Kris has presented himself as a role model, working to develop himself as much as possible, making full use of SU-provided courses. In providing a first-hand experience of each role within the committee, Kris’ introduction of a mentorship scheme aims to inform and inspire our club members.
Kris is heavily involved in outreach. The club is looking to fundraise for charities such as United Through Sport. Kris hopes to promote interest from early ages. Kris has been in talks with Bath schools, offering our coaches to voluntarily run sessions, improving the club’s and university’s appearance throughout the community. Kris has introduced refereeing and coaching programmes, taking place at the University of Bath, increasing the reputation of the university as a sporting institute.
Kris consistently pushes to make the club more inclusive. Being a popular sport in various countries, the club is comprised of a multitude of different nationalities and cultures. With this in mind, encouraging non-alcoholic nights and ensuring a relaxed, friendly social environment have made socials inclusive for all. The club has since seen social attendance double and has removed barriers between teams. With the expansion of the club, Kris has implemented the role of welfare officer early, to ensure that every club member is looked after.
The David VandeLinde Prize
The David VandeLinde Prize recognises sporting accomplishment, leadership and academic success.
Ryan Jones & Tom Sawko
Ryan Jones
Throughout his 4 years at Bath, Ryan has immersed himself in the opportunities to further his sporting involvement. Initially joining the university as a Welsh international water polo player and dual career athlete, he was selected to play for the men’s first’ water polo team and was later elected captain in his second year.
Since then, Ryan has not only used the opportunities at Bath to better himself as a water polo player, continuing to represent Wales and playing for City of Bristol in the Water Polo National league, but also to make contributions outside of the pool. This includes 2 positions on the Sport Executive committee, 4 year athlete forum representative and multiple water polo committee positions. Most notably as Chair of the Sports Executive Ryan has worked closely with the Sport Officer to implement sustainable club development within the Students Union, adjusted the structure of the General Meetings to gather more purposeful feedback, and sat on the officer review panel to provide feedback to the sabbatical officer team in representing the student body.
Ryan’s proudest achievements are his multiple selections for the Welsh water polo team, successful election to become the Chair of the Sport Executive Committee and winning the Western 1A BUCS League this year, aiming for promotion to the southern Premiership. He commits himself to these roles, his academics and his water polo career and is always aiming to further his contributions to sport, both at the University and externally.
Ryan plans to continue his contributions to sport both at the university and his personal performance by training for the European Nations, Prague 2018, and Commonwealth Tournament, Malta 2018, alongside creating a link with an external club to encourage more water polo players to be aware of the opportunities Bath and the surrounding area has to offer for training.
Tom Sawko
Competing for the first men’s volleyball team since coming to Bath and captaining it for the last two years, Tom Sawko is currently in his penultimate year of an MPhys Physics with Astrophysics course averaging over 80% so far.
Tom has been an integral part of the volleyball community since the start of his University career. He has been able to gain so much from the volleyball over the years and, his main ambition for volunteering within sport has been to help others do the same. Within the club he has been sharing his experience and passion for the sport, leading by example, empowering and developing the novice members, all the while maintaining an elite academic record.
Having played volleyball competitively for more than 8 years, Tom is one of the most experienced players in the Volleyball club, he came to Bath and competed for the first men’s team in his first year. He entered his second year as a captain of that same team, while establishing and coaching a second men’s team. He was able to balance that with the responsibilities of being the Volleyball club social secretary, as well as his degree in Physics with Astrophysics.
In his third year at university, Tom returned to captain the men’s first team for a second year in a row, and for a second year in a row, he lead the boys to a strong performance in the Western 1A BUCS Division, solidifying their 2nd place in the league. As coach of the second ladies team, Tom has lead them to a similar position in the women’s division. Tom continues to actively pursue opportunities to challenge and push himself by playing for the Surrey Spikers in the National Volleyball League, Division 3.
Outside of the competitive environment, Tom has been promoting involvement in coaching in the recreational aspects of our club, while also coaching many of the recreational sessions himself. Tom has been active in the organization and promotion of a coaching course at Bath. He has also actively sought continuous development as a coach by participating in the variety of SU organized workshops and skills sessions.
Tom’s leadership and charisma, both on and off court have had a tremendous impact on the development of both the competitive and recreational aspects of the volleyball club. Tom has lead by example in stepping up to a coaching position and has empowered individuals, equipping them with skills to do the same.
The Tugendhat Trophy for Sporting Endeavour
This award recognises the successes achieved by student athletes in new areas, unfamiliar to them before their arrival at University. The prize will be awarded to a student who has started a sport as a fresher and gone on to improve sufficiently to achieve a BUCS podium finish inside three years.
Rebecca Wilde
Becky was tested for the World class Start programme in June 2017, having never rowed before. She successfully got selected for the programme. Since then she has already won the BUCS Indoors beginner category on the rowing machine. Within four months of starting rowing Becky was already in a position to be racing in the top university crew at the British Championships in October. In November she then went on to win Gold at the BUCS Indoor Championships individually and in the Women's relay team. She also raced her single at the BUCS Small Boats Head against the top single scullers in the country. She more recently won a bronze medal at BUCS Head in the Championship Women’s Quad and a fourth place in the Women's 8.
Becky has taken to rowing exceptionally well, she is an extremely committed and dedicated athlete. Training 12 times a week she manages the training and her degree very well. She is already one of the top females nationally on the World Class Start Programme. Within 9 months of rowing she has already got on the podium at BUCS events twice, winning Gold at BUCS indoors and a Bronze at BUCS Head.
The SU Bath Sport Volunteer Coach of the Year
This award recognises the significant impact to sport made through coaching by student volunteers. It recognises that such volunteers give a substantial amount of time to improve the coaching provisions within their club.
Ryan Hylands
Having never trampolined before university, Ryan joined the University of Bath Trampoline Club and completed his Level 1 coaching qualification in his first year. He has since completed his Level 2 coaching qualification, allowing him to run sessions on his own. He used this coaching to run additional daytime training sessions, massively increasing the training time offered to members, typically coaching 8-12 hours a week. Ryan is also currently working towards the first module of his Level 3 qualification, allowing him to coach more advanced skills and increasing the provision of coaching to the higher level members.
Having attended the majority of Southern University Trampoline League competitions in the past 4 years, he has been able to provide invaluable coaching to the competitors on the day, improving the club’s performance. Ryan has also given his time to mentor other coaches through their level 1 & 2 qualifications, further improving the number of coaches the club has.
In the three and a half years that Ryan has been at Bath he has become one of highest qualified coaches in the club, massively improving the coaching the club can offer, being able to coach higher level skills and running additional sessions. Having competed in multiple competitions across the years, he’s improved massively from being a total beginner competing SUTL 6, and now competes at SUTL 3 level. Not only has he competed at competitions in England, Wales and Ireland, but he’s also been there to coach other competitors.
Ryan has been both Bath Competition Captain and Coach & Kit Coordinator on Trampolining committee, responsible for organising a competition for over 300 competitors from various universities and for overseeing all the coaches in the club and ordering new kit. He was part of the mini committee responsible for organising the summer training camp in 2015. He also coaches for Tribe and his local club at home over summer, further increasing his coaching experience. Having gained an amazing amount of experience in his time trampolining so far Ryan is an invaluable member of the club.
The Ivor Powell Award for Excellence in Coaching
The Ivor Powell Award recognises the significant impact to sport made by coaches based at the University campus. An exceptionally high calibre of winners is maintained as the award is only presented when suitable candidates are available. The Ivor Powell Award is intended to recognise qualities of excellence in a coach epitomised by Ivor Powell himself, who represented passion, integrity, and total commitment to University sport.
Dan Harris
Dan started his own rowing career at Bangor University, and decided upon graduating he wanted to explore the options of becoming a rowing coach, he started his coaching role at the University of Bath in 2011. He has had ample success within his coaching career so far, from BUCS medals, to various alumni such as Sam Courty who has won medals at both World University Games and U23 World Championships after starting her rowing career with Dan in 2012. Over the past 7 years, the success that Dan’s athletes have seen as well as the type of people these athletes become throughout their degree is a testament to Dan’s commitment to his career in coaching.
Dan is passionate about achieving excellence, pushing boundaries and acting as a significant role model to his athletes and the wider Bath University Boat Club. Although Dan’s focus are those athletes on the GB Start programme, this doesn’t stop him from supporting the university rowing programme. Dan supports extra water sessions, attends BUCS events outside of his remit, all with passion and commitment to the development of his and other athletes.
Dan’s coaching role is noteworthy in the fact he is teaching a brand new sport to students, in the pursuit of giving them the skills to eventually join the British Rowing Squad and compete on the international stage. Dan has taken athletes such as Rebecca Wilde and Zara Mulholland from being novice rowers to BUCS Champ medallists in the space of 12 months and will continue to produce talented student-athletes.
Aside from his previous and future successes as a coach, Dan is also an important member of the University and Team Bath community. Dan interacts with coaches from all sports, sharing ideas and finding opportunities to improve his own practice and that of others. He is a role model to the student-athletes, a mentor for others and encompasses the values and beliefs that create an environment for the student-athletes to succeed, not only as athletes, but as people too.
BUCS Team of the Year
This award is only open to the 1st team of any sport and will be presented purely on the level of performance and achievement during the season.
Mixed Karate BUCS Team
The University of Bath Karate Club (UBKC) has only one opportunity each year to win BUCS points - the BUCS Karate Championships. Over the last four years, they have not placed below second. This year the team sent 25 members to the competition. The team won 3 team medals (bronze, silver, gold) and 6 individual medals (2 bronze, 2 silver, 2 gold).
Both the Male Senior Kumite Team and the Female Senior Kumite Team reached the final. This is the first time the club has achieved this in recent memory. The female team improved on their bronze medal from last year, and the male team managed to win their final, improving on the silver medals they won in both of the last two years. In fact, the male team did not lose a single fight throughout the competition. The Mixed Kata Team also won a hard-fought bronze medal.
The team successes were echoed by the captains in the individual categories - the Men's Captain Zach Barrow won gold and the Women's Captain Asuka Peace won silver. Three of the four members of the female team won individual medals, taking home a bronze, silver and gold. Another individual silver medal was won by a member of the male team, and a former Men’s Captain won an individual bronze.
Incredibly, and most significantly, the team won the title of BUCS Karate Champions 2018 for winning the most medal points of all the universities that competed. The victory was a dominant one - UBKC had 14 more points than the second place university. UBKC has been an established and successful club at Bath for over 20 years. It accepts a large variety of members from different styles of karate and varying levels of experience. They are united by their passion for their martial art and by their dedication to their training.
The team owes its continued success to the exceptional quality of the coaches that it employs. UBKC has a team of five professional coaches. Head coach Jim McCafferty first started training with the team in 1999.The kumite coach Ali Nyoni is an experienced competitor, and represented Zimbabwe in the WKF World Karate Championships in 2016. The team has a dedicated kata coach in Daniel Barclay, and two dedicated fitness coaches in Alex and Ben Whetherly. Daniel, Alex, and Ben are all alumni of the university, and their decision to give back their time and knowledge after graduating is a testament to the appreciation the members have for the club.
Club of the Year
This award recognises the success and substantial achievements clubs can attain when they function effectively as a whole.
Fencing Club
Fencing has seen a large rise in members, 126 at the time of writing, a 93% increase on our target for the year, and a 129% increase on two years ago. This has been complemented by much-improved retention amongst beginners; we regularly have 35-40 fencers attend one or both beginner sessions each week, and 32 students fenced in our Christmas beginner tournament, the highest in recent memory. This has been supplemented by the club's involvement in SU campaigns such as the Inclusivity award, and ThisGirlCan, continuing to challenge assumptions that the sport is male dominated through consistently high attendance by female students. It is part of the committee's plan to have a large presence at Disability sports day, raising awareness of wheelchair fencing at Paralympic level based here in Bath.
For intermediate fencers, it was a large part of the committee's plans to bridge the gap between beginner/intermediate and advanced fencers, a divide tantamount to two entirely separate clubs in previous years. This year, by utilising the experience of advanced members to coach and mentor, a framework has been built that has seen several students who had never fenced before joining Bath this year attend advanced sessions. For the first time, students who started fencing here have been provided with a pathway to advanced training and BUCS level representation. This has never happened before in at least the past 5 years and eliminated the divide between the two sections of the club.
From the advanced side, the addition of two new BUCS teams has seen a doubling in the students competing. The M1 finished 3rd in the strongest Southern Premier League in recent memory, and earned a quarter final spot in the trophy. The M2 have proved our strength in depth by remaining undefeated all season, winning Western 2A and looking to earn more silverware by winning the Conference Cup. The W1 have acquitted themselves fantastically, with a guaranteed top half finish (and possibility of 3rd) in Western 1A. From an individual perspective the club performed ably at an unprecedentedly well attended BUCS Individual Championships, Will Germany finishing 6th, Joe Westhead 10th, and Imran Seth 12th, all from fields of ~140 fencers.
Further individual efforts saw Will Germany awarded the BUCS Chris Potter Memorial Bursary for services to student sport, a national award which has helped draw attention to the way fencing has blossomed here in Bath. The committee have also attended several of the sessions put on by the SU for skills training, such as the student leaders conference and the Guy Richardson talks.
The way that the club has come together, from a collection of groups of different ability to a single club with a common culture of advancement and improvement, represents a huge step forward for the club. Combining the needs of the three ability groups was a priority for the committee. By bringing these sections of the club together, not only has the offering for beginner fencers improved substantially, but the opportunities given to, and the successes of the advanced teams have also flourished. In future years, it is hoped that more will try the sport at Bath knowing that the club can provide a real framework for improvement at all ability levels.
Sports Personality of the Year
This award recognises a student who has contributed significantly to student sport during their time at University, and encapsulates the spirit of University sport. ‘Positive contribution’ may take many forms, including performance, service, and participation. Candidates may have achieved outstanding levels of performance, represented the University in a number of sports, or had significant input into a team, both on and off the pitch.
Anna Hopkin – Swimming
Anna started swimming at her first swimming club aged 8 and started competing at the age of 9, qualifying for National competitions and winning her first National medal from the age of 11. Anna though, at the age of 13, decided to stop competitive swimming to compete in a range of other sports.
After a five year break, Anna joined the University and decided to start swimming again through the University Swimming Club, with the aim to solely compete for the University at BUCS competitions. After just 6 months training with the University, Anna made her first British Championship final, where she finished 6th in the 50m Freestyle. The following year Anna returned to the competition and took the silver medal and last year Anna became British Champion in the 50m Freestyle. Following these performances Anna was selected to represent Great Britain at the World University Games 2017 and was part of the 4x100m Freestyle team that finished in 4th place. In December 2017 Anna became a double National Champion by winning the 50m and 100m Freestyle and as such was selected to represent England at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Her dedication to the University throughout her degree has also not gone unnoticed, where even during her placement year where she was working full time, has represented the University in every BUCS competition that has happened and won medals in each of them
With the support of the University of Bath, the excellent coaching and facilities that has been on offer, Anna feels that she has been able to improve year on year and hopes for a successful Commonwealth Games.
Anna plans to start a kinesiology masters in America, with a swimming scholarship, after graduating from the University of Bath whilst continuing her training towards Tokyo 2020.
To view the full album of photos from the evening click here.