Six medals for University of Stirling swimmers at U23 Euros

University of Stirling swimmers have returned from the inaugural Under-23 European Championships with two gold and four silver medals for Great Britain.

Keanna MacInnes won gold in the 100m and 200m Butterfly events, before taking silver – alongside fellow Stirling swimmers Evie Davis and Lucy Grieve – in the 4 x 100m Mixed Medley Relay. Davis also won silver in 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay.

In other events, Davis recorded a fourth place in the 100m Freestyle and a seventh in the 200m Freestyle, while Stirling teammate Evan Jones finished the 200m Freestyle in fourth and the 200m Individual Medley in sixth.

Stirling success at the event bookends a phenomenal run for swimmers at Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence. They recently won four medals at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, and 22 medals at the British Summer Championships in Sheffield.

Bradley Hay, High Performance Swim Coach at the University of Stirling, was also selected to travel to the European Championships to support the British athletes.

He said: “Keanna, Evie, Lucy and Evan gave good accounts of themselves at the Under-23 Euros, and I'm delighted that they have returned with six medals between them.

“The competition offered our swimmers to pit themselves against some of the top swimmers in their age group from Europe and beyond – and I'm proud of what they have achieved over the past few days.”

The inaugural Championships – which were hosted by Swim Ireland in Dublin – was an open event, meaning that non-European countries could compete, but not medal, at the competition.

The success came weeks after the World Championships, where University’s Duncan Scott won gold in the Men’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay, silver in the Men’s 200m Medley, and bronze in Mixed 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay, in which his Stirling teammate Lucy Hope also medalled. It also followed the 10 gold, six silver and six bronze medals won by Stirling swimmers at the British Summer Championships.

David Bond, Head of Performance Sport at the University of Stirling, said: “Congratulations to the four University of Stirling swimmers who represented Great Britain at the Under-23 European Championships. It’s fantastic to once again see athletes from the University of Stirling succeeding against some of the best athletes from across the world.

“The competition will have provided valuable experience as they look to continue along their development journey. A special mention to Keanna MacInnes who demonstrated her world-class ability by returning a trio of medals, including two gold, as well as Evie Davis on her two medals.”