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The University of Stirling’s high-performance swim programme was celebrated at the Scottish Swimming Awards 2024 – with Duncan Scott winning Swimmer of the Year and coaches Steven Tigg and Bradley Hay jointly awarded Coach of the Year.
Scott – who has spent almost a decade on the high-performance programme at Stirling, and this summer became Scotland’s most decorated Olympian – was also the recipient of the JY Coutts Memorial Award and the Nancy Riach Memorial Award.
The recognition of Tigg and Hay reflects the ongoing success of the University’s programme – which this year saw a record eight swimmers selected for the Olympics, with Scott and Jack McMillan returning from Paris with two gold and one silver medal between them.
High-Performance Swim Coach Bradley Hay won Coach of the Year, alongside Steven Tigg.
Reflecting on the award, Hay said: “This is great and testament to the team behind the programme; the University of Stirling, Scottish Swimming, the sportscotland Institute of Sport and Aquatics GB.
“This is when we take a step back and reflect and celebrate the achievements of the athletes. It’s been an intense season: the trials environment, the pressure on the athletes and getting them to the Olympic Games is one thing, but then going onto actually perform at the Olympics is something else – so this summer has been a celebration of all the hard work they’ve put in.”
Eight swimmers from the Stirling programme competed in Paris: Scott, McMillan, Kathleen Dawson, Katie Shanahan, Angharad Evans, Lucy Hope and Keanna Macinnes for Great Britain, and Paige van der Westhuizen for Zimbabwe. Scott and McMillan won gold in the Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay, and Scott added a silver with a phenomenal performance in the Men’s 200m Individual Medley.
Head Performance Swim Coach Steven Tigg was a joint winner of Coach of the Year.
The annual Scottish Swimming Awards took place in front of more than 300 guests at The Event Complex Aberdeen on Saturday.
Also among the winners was Dean Fearn – who was awarded the WG Todd Prize and Cup for Junior Swimmer of the Year. The teenager is based in Aberdeenshire, however, has recently joined the University’s high-performance programme – training on campus a couple of days each week.
Fearn said: “It has been a big and long season. I think the toughest element was going from European Juniors straight into the British Summer Champs. I was really pleased with my performances at the Euro Juniors, then I think it was more about surviving the British Champs, but very pleased with what I achieved overall.”
David Bond, Head of Performance Sport at the University of Stirling, said: “Congratulations to Duncan Scott on winning Swimmer of the Year; Steven Tigg and Bradley Hay on being jointly awarded Coach of the Year; and Dean Fearn on winning Junior Swimmer of the Year at the Scottish Swimming Awards.
“This prestigious recognition reflects the growing success of the high-performance swim programme at Stirling – Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence – and we continue to be incredibly proud of all that our athletes, coaches and support staff continue to achieve.”