Great Britain Head Coach Steve Tigg On “Incredibly Positive” Table-Topping Campaign At European Championships
Great Britain head coach Steve Tigg described as “incredibly positive” the team’s performance at the European Championships where a final flourish saw them finish top of the medal table.
Great Britain ended the seven-day meet with eight golds, two silvers and four bronzes to lead the way ahead of Italy (6,8,6) and the Neutral Athletes B team (5,5,9).
Katie Shanahan (200 back), Keanna MacInnes (200 fly), Angharad Evans (100m breaststroke) and Filip Nowacki (200m breaststroke) won solo titles while the men’s, women’s and mixed 4×200 relay squads topped the podium.
James Guy: Picture Courtesy: British Swimming
Victory in the women’s medley relay on the final stroke as Freya Colbert out-touched Emma Menicucci guided them to a British and championship record of 3:53.50. It also featured a 1:03.75 breaststroke split by Angharad Evans, the fastest in history.
And it ensured Great Britain had an unassailable lead at the top of the table.
Sixteen-year-old Amalie Smith won 400IM silver while James Guy set a 200 free PB of 1:44.87 to become the first 30-something inside 1:45 en-route to bronze, 10 years after third at London 2016 and 11 year after winning the 2015 world title. The previous oldest was his GB teammate Duncan Scott at 27 and before that, Sun Yang.
MacInnes’ victory in the 200 fly as well as her contribution in the medley relay in 75 golden minutes during the final session proved pivotal.
Assessing the team’s performance ahead of the last session at the Olympic Aquatic Centre, Tigg said: “I think incredibly positive. We’ve got a real broad range of age and experience on our team now.
“We want to help the athletes who are going for their third or fourth Olympics to peak when they’re there and get the best out of it. The value they can add to the team from a behavioural and cultural architect point of view to the younger athletes is really important because it has been a good culture established through Chris (Spice, national performance director) and Bill (Furniss, ex-head coach) in the past, and we don’t want to lose it.
“But what we need to make sure is that with the younger athletes, we are driving their level of performance up. We wanted to come to this meet and see if we could see some new people really step up, and I think we have, particularly on the female side. “
“Though on the male side, Filip Nowacki has swum incredibly well. The men’s 4×2 came under a rigorous attack, but we still managed to win it. And you’ve got an example of someone like James Guy, who’s almost 31, going 1:40.0. There’s strength in that, and the message to the others is really, really powerful over the next two years.”
Ramsay-Peaty: Never Judge A Man Until You’ve Walked A Mile In His Shoes
While GB topped the medal table, there was considerable spotlight on Adam Ramsay-Peaty who arrived in Paris towing 16 golds from 16 races between Berlin 2014 and Budapest 2020, which was delayed a year because of the Covid pandemic and took place in 2021.
The three-time Olympic champion left the French capital without a medal following two fourths and a fifth-place finish in the 100m breaststroke. He also finished 20th in the 50m breaststroke, something that prompted him to say, “it’s so bad, I’m confused.”
It has given rise to a lot of scrutiny and online comments, mainly in the UK, with some calling on Ramsay-Peaty to retire.
Adam Ramsay-Peaty: Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia
The eight-time world champion has moved to London where he’s started working with coach Lisa Bates and also has a second child on the way in December with wife Holly while a family estrangement plays out in the full glare of the media.
He was tearful when speaking to journalists last month at the Commonwealth Games and a lot of criticism has subsequently come his way.
Tigg said there’s a strategy in place to ensure Ramsay-Peaty has the best possible chance to be competitive come the LA Olympics in 2028.
“You should never judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes,” said Tigg.
“We have put in place a long-term strategy for preparing to be the best version of him he physically can be in LA. Since Paris 2024 (where he won silver), he’s not raced a lot. He’s not raced a real championship and he’s not really trained a lot so the engine isn’t where it needs to be.
“So, the process of trying to get him as best prepared for his goal, which is LA, has started. He started doing his training in April so he will be carrying a little bit more fatigue than he ordinarily would, but he hadn’t had a training base really the whole way through the season, despite some good performances that relative to his best, are not that close.”
Tigg pointed to Guy’s progress, adding: “There’s a few things going on, but nothing I think we can’t help him address. He deserves to be given the opportunity and the effort to give him what he wants.
“I was on a lot of teams with Adam and it’s pretty inspirational. There’s bits that he’s frustrated at and between him and his coach, they’ll sit down after this and probably continue the plan they’ve got, which you’re never as far away as you think.
“James was 1:45.7 last week, and now 1:44.7. Sometimes with just a little bit better driving, the car can go a bit faster. And when there’s other things at play, sometimes you get a little bit desperate, you try too hard, and you think, that’s the problem.”