Adam Peaty, British Swimming NPD Chris Spice And Tom Daley Awarded OBEs In New Year’s Honours List

adam peaty, tokyo olympics, mixed 400 medley relay, mixed medley relay

Adam Peaty: Photo Courtesy: Robert Hanashiro/USA Today Sports

Three-time Olympic champion Adam Peaty has been awarded an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for services to swimming and mental health in the New Year’s Honours List for 2022.

British Swimming national performance director Chris Spice also becomes an OBE as does Olympic diving champion Tom Daley and Paralympic swimmers Bethany Firth and Hannah Russell.

Tom Dean, who won the 200m freestyle in Tokyo, was awarded an MBE along with his fellow victorious 4×200 freestyle relay teammates Duncan Scott, James Guy and Matt Richards.

Scott won a total of four medals in Japan, adding silvers in the 200 free, 200IM and 4×100 medley relay to his 4×2 gold.

Kathleen Dawson, who became European 100 backstroke champion following a reswim that tested body and mind, becomes an MBE along with Anna Hopkin and Freya Anderson, all members of the victorious mixed medley relay.

Jordan Catchpole, Reece Dunn, Calum Jarvis, Tully Kearney, Matty Lee and Maisie Summers-Newton were also awarded MBEs.

Steve Parry, a bronze medallist from the Athens Games in 2004, has also been awarded an MBE in the latest New Year’s Honours List for services to swimming, while Anya Francis is on the list for services to young people in Durham – a county in north-east England – through swimming.

Peaty, who was made an MBE in 2017, became the first British swimmer to retain an Olympic title when he added the 100m breaststroke title in Tokyo to his Rio 2016 crown.

He also won gold with mixed medley relay and silver with the men’s equivalent, months after winning the quadruple-quadruple in Budapest, claiming four titles at four consecutive European Championships.

The eight-time world champion is also a fearless leader out of the water and has spoken about mental health and athletes’ rights to express themselves.

He said:

“It’s an honour to be recognised amongst so many great people: 2021 has been a year like no other for me in many ways with so many fantastic experiences.

“After a challenging couple of years it was amazing to see the hard work and dedication of our team pay off in Tokyo and it’s even more special for me to be able to share this moment with my teammates and friends who are also on the New Year’s Honours List.

“I’m incredibly grateful to be honoured with an OBE. Through sport, I hope I can continue to inspire people to push themselves whilst also making my country proud.”

Spice oversaw Britain’s best-ever results in the Olympic pool – four golds, three silvers and one bronze – and receives the honour for services to swimming and high performance sport.

He said:

“This is an incredible honour and I am extremely proud to have led our swimming team to such success in recent years, culminating in our best Olympics in history in Tokyo.

“I would like to thank our amazing athletes, coaches and support staff for a truly extraordinary time since coming into this job in 2013.

“We have built a team that not only believes we can win but supports each other in and out of the water whatever the outcome. Your excellence, dedication and camaraderie is second to none.

“That culture was on display for all to see last week as five staff worked around the clock on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to help Max Litchfield get home from Abu Dhabi to be with his family at this important time of year.

“A leader is only as good as the team around them and I would like to thank my exceptional leadership team – Bill Furniss, Tim Jones, Dawn Peart, Adam Clarke, Tina Ryan, Matt Ashman and Sarah Gilmore – in accepting this honour as without your wisdom, patience and unwavering commitment to performance and winning in the right way, we wouldn’t be in the position we are today.”

Daley’s impact from the 10m platform and far beyond has seen him handed an OBE for services to diving, LBGT+ rights and charity at the end of a year that saw him claim his maiden Olympic title, alongside Matty Lee, in the men’s 10m Synchro.

Firth and Russell have been awarded OBEs for services to swimming after both retaining individual Paralympic titles in the summer as part of Paralympics GB’s most successful sport, with Firth also playing a key role in the victorious Mixed S14 4x100m Freestyle Relay quartet.

Speaking about becoming an OBE after a Paralympic Games which brought her gold in the S12 100m backstroke and a S12 100m freestyle bronze, Russell said:

“What a year 2021 has been. From training in my back garden, swimming in a static hydro pool to arriving in Tokyo, in the best shape, ready to compete at my third Paralympic Games. I am delighted that my achievements in 2021, including defending my 100m backstroke title, have been recognised. To be awarded an OBE is an honour.

“I would like to take this opportunity to dedicate it to my family, close friends and coaches and support staff at British Para-Swimming, who have provided me with endless guidance and support.”

Officer of the Order of the British Empire

Tom Daley – services to diving, LGBTQ+ rights and charity

Bethany Firth – services to swimming

Adam Peaty – services to swimming and mental health

Hannah Russell – services to swimming

Chris Spice – services to swimming and high performance sport

Member of the Order of the British Empire

Freya Anderson – services to swimming

Jordan Catchpole – services to swimming

Kathleen Dawson – services to swimming and women in sport

Tom Dean – services to swimming

Reece Dunn – services to swimming

James Guy – services to swimming

Anna Hopkin – services to swimming

Calum Jarvis – services to swimming

Tully Kearney – services to swimming

Matty Lee – services to diving

Matthew Richards – services to swimming

Duncan Scott – services to swimming

Maisie Summers-Newton – services to swimming

Steve Parry – services to swimming

Anya Francis – for services to young people in Durham through swimming

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