Celebrated swim coach Steve Tigg – who has led the University of Stirling’s coveted high-performance programme for seven years – has been appointed to the top job in British swimming.
Tigg – who has coached Stirling athletes to 11 Olympic and 27 Commonwealth Games medals during his tenure – will leave his role at the University after being made Head Coach of Aquatics GB. The high-profile role will see Tigg lead and develop Britain’s world-class performance programme, as preparations begin for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Tigg replaces Bill Furniss OBE – the most successful head coach in the history of British Olympic swimming – who announced his retirement earlier this year.
The process to recruit Tigg’s successor at Stirling – Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence – is under way and an announcement is expected within the coming weeks.
Nurturing talent
David Bond, Head of Performance Sport at the University, said: “Steve Tigg has dedicated the past 10 years of his career to identifying and nurturing the nation’s best swim talent here at the University of Stirling, Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence.
“Since 2014, Steve has worked tirelessly to develop, grow and enhance our high-performance programme – not only to the benefit of the University, but delivering success for Britain, Scotland and swimmers from around the world. Our athletes continue to thrive on the international stage, and we are incredibly proud of all that they continue to achieve.
“Given his success here at Stirling, it comes as no surprise that Steve has been appointed to the biggest role in British swimming – and everyone at the University wishes him all the best as he takes this exciting step in his career.”
He added: “Our recruitment process for Steve’s successor is under way and we are looking forward to sharing an update on that soon.”
Steve Tigg has coached Stirling athletes to 11 Olympic and 27 Commonwealth Games medals during his time at the University.
Tigg said it was a “privilege” to be appointed to the role at Aquatics GB and reflected positively on his time at Stirling – adding that he looked to continue working closely with the University.
He said: “Thank you to everyone at the University of Stirling for making my time there so memorable and enjoyable. I look forward to continuing the collaborative relationship held between Aquatics GB and the University.”
A decade at Stirling
Tigg has risen to prominence over the past decade, thanks to his expert tutelage of some of Britain’s best swim talent and is today recognised as one of the world’s top coaches.
Hailing from Alloa, Tigg himself was a swimmer, based at Stirling. He started his coaching career as a volunteer at Alloa Swim Club in 2005 and it was there – just a few weeks into his role – that he met and started to coach a young Duncan Scott. It was the beginning of a special relationship which has seen Tigg coach Scott for almost 20 years, including a decade at the University.
Having held positions at swim clubs in South Ayrshire and in Falkirk, Tigg joined the high-performance programme at Stirling in 2014, supporting then Head Coach Ben Higson. Tigg was promoted to the lead role in 2017 when Higson left to become Head Coach at Swim Ireland.
Reflecting the success and growth of the high-performance programme under Tigg’s leadership, the University sent a record numbers of swimmers to this year’s Olympics (eight), and to the 2022 Commonwealth Games (16). During his time at Stirling, the University’s swimmers have won 11 medals at the Olympics – including Scott, whose recent gold and silver in Paris saw him become Scotland’s most decorated Olympian – and 27 medals at the Commonwealth Games.
Tigg has coached with Great Britain at the Olympics in Paris (2024) and Tokyo (2021), and at the World Championships on five occasions. He coached Team Scotland at the Gold Coast (2018) and Birmingham (2022) Commonwealth Games and was Head Coach of London Roar International Swimming League team.
His success has seen him celebrated with a plethora of Coach of the Year awards, including at the Team Scotland Sports Awards (2016 and 2018); British Swimming Awards (2018); British Swim Coaches Association Awards (2018); and Scottish Swimming Awards (2022 and 2023).
Success
Announcing Tigg’s appointment, Chris Spice, Aquatics GB Performance Director, paid tribute to the high-performance swim programme at the University. He said: “Steven has not only coached recent Olympic champions – Duncan Scott, Kathleen Dawson and Jack McMillan – but has also successfully led Commonwealth Games teams for Scotland, and more recently was Great Britain’s Head Coach at the 2022 European Championships.
“Steven comes to the role having led the incredibly successful University of Stirling high-performance programme for the past seven years where his systematic approach to player development has delivered many British, Commonwealth, European, and World Champions since 2017. In addition, he has led an outstanding team of coaches and support staff in Scotland who have also represented GB regularly on the European and World stage.”
The University of Stirling offers a world-leading high-performance swim programme, which provides athletes with a bespoke package of world-class coaching, access to state-of-the-art facilities, performance mentoring and access to the latest innovations in sports research. Those on scholarships can also benefit from academic flexibility to support their education alongside their sporting ambitions. Bradley Hay and Josh Williamson coach on the programme alongside Tigg, and current athletes include Duncan Scott, Kathleen Dawson, Jack McMillan and Katie Shanahan.