Bath-based swimmers Chris Walker-Hebborn and Siobhan-Marie O’Connor added to their impressive haul of medals on the final day of swimming at the Commonwealth Games.
Walker-Hebborn won his second gold of the Games. He helped the England 4x100m medley relay quartet to gold and a Commonwealth record in the final swimming event of Glasgow 2014, beating the much fancied Australian team.
It meant he added a relay medal to the 100m backstroke gold he won five days ago.
He said: “That was the best relay team I’ve ever been a part of. To come away with a gold and a Commonwealth record is more than I could have asked for. I’m so proud.”
And moments earlier 18-year-old O’Connor swam the butterfly leg for the England women’s 4x100m medley relay team that took silver. Their success also meant a silver for Lizzie Simmonds, who swam in the heats earlier in the day.
That was a remarkable sixth medal of the Games for O’Connor, who like Walker-Hebborn and Simmonds, trains at British Swimming’s National Training Centre in Bath.
“We knew we could give the Aussies a run for their money and I think we put in a really good fight and scared them,” she said.
University of Bath Sports Performance student Jay Lelliott, a Santander scholar, was sixth for England in the 1500m freestyle final.
There was also a first Commonwealth Games medal for University of Bath Integrated Mechanical and Electrical Engineering student Kristian Callaghan. He shot his way to bronze in the 25m rapid fire pistol.
“It’s absolutely incredible. I woke up this morning and I didn’t think today was going to be the day when I won a medal. I can’t believe it,” he said. “I thought it was hard at the start, but when I knew I got a medal coming I was overwhelmed.”
Will Sharman, who used to train in Malcolm Arnold’s group at the University, took silver in the 110m hurdles final, where Lawrence Clarke, currently coached by Arnold, was eighth.
It means to date athletes with University of Bath links have won medals on every day of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Medals won by athletes with links to the University of Bath include:
Gold – 5
- Megan Fletcher (judo – under-70kg, England, day 2)
- Chris Walker-Hebborn (swimming – 100m backstroke, England, day 2)
- Zoe Smith (weightlifting – under-58kg, England, day 3)
- Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (swimming – 200m individual medley, England, day 4)
- Chris Walker-Hebborn (swimming – 4x100m medley relay, England, day 6)
Silver – 9
- Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (swimming – 200m freestyle, England, day 1)
- Amelia Maughan & Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (swimming – 4x100m freestyle relay, England, day 1)
- Michael Jamieson (swimming – 200m breaststroke, Scotland, day 1)
- Tom Reed (judo – under-81kg, England, day 2)
- Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (swimming – 100m butterfly, England, day 2)
- Gemma Gibbons (judo – under-78kg, England, day 3)
- Heather Olver (badminton – team competition, England, day 5)
- Will Sharman (athletics – 110m hurdles, England, day 6)
- Lizzie Simmonds & Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (swimming – 4x100m medley relay, England, day 6)
Bronze – 7
- Andrew Willis (swimming – 200m breaststroke, England, day 1)
- Chris Walker-Hebborn (swimming – 4x100m freestyle, England, day 2)
- Calum Jarvis (swimming – 200m freestyle, Wales, day 2)
- Andy Burns (judo – under-90kg, Scotland, day 3)
- Gary Hall (judo – under-90kg, England, day 3)
- Amelia Maughan & Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (swimming – 4x200m freestyle relay, England, day 3)
- Kristian Callaghan (shooting – 25m rapid fire pistol, England, day 6)
More than 70 athletes with University of Bath links were selected to compete at Glasgow 2014. They will represent 10 countries and compete in 11 sports.
