Jon Rudd is the Head Coach of the Plymouth Leander where his star pupils include Ruta Meilutyte (Lithuania), Ben Proud (Great Britain) and Julia Meynan (Luxembourg). Meilutyte had a magnificent year winning the 100 breaststroke at the World Championships and the European Short Course Championships. She also set world records in the long course 50 breaststroke (29.48) and 100 breaststroke (1:04.35) as well as the short course 100 breaststroke (1:02.36).
Proud also had a great campaign in 2013. The 18 year old won the men’s 50 butterfly at the British National Championships in June in a time of 23.10 breaking Mark Foster‘s British record of 23.29 set in 2009 and becoming the fastest 18 year old in the history of the event. His time placed him ninth in the world by the end of the year.
Proud went on to represent Great Britain in Barcelona qualifying for the semi-final in the 50 butterfly finishing 11th overall as well as placing 18th in the 50 freestyle.
Meynan recently joined Rudd’s group and has already seen some incredible improvements in her first three months with Rudd. She’s a great example of what makes Rudd the true ‘European’ coach of the year – he has touched many different countries on the old continent. Meilutyte has broken 11 Lithuanian National Records in 2013, Proud broke a British Record, and in just a short time under Rudd, Meynan has broken 9 senior national records, and like Meilutyte she’s only 16, so that’s accompanied by a slew of age group records.
Rudd’s squad were also the 2013 Arena League National Champions in the UK, and his boys squad were the top scorers at the British Gas Age Group Championships. Rudd is getting swimming done at all levels in the UK and in Europe, and that breadth of success was the difference-maker in a very successful year for British swimmers and coaches.
For his efforts Rudd was named the British Swim Coach of the Year and will be the Head Coach of the English team at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and has earned our 2013 Swammy award for European Club Coach of the Year.
Honourable Mentions:
There were many great swims during the 2013 season for European competitors which included 11 gold medals at the 2013 FINA World Championships in Barcelona and the ownership of 13 new world records. Many swimmers and coaches contributed to this number of successes but none more so than Hungarian Katinka Hosszu and her coach Shane Tusup.
With Hosszu as his only pupil for most of the 2013 season (they’ve since picked up another participant), Tusup has been able to work closely with her to form a program that is built specifically for her needs and her needs alone and it has been working. At the World Championships Hosszu took home gold in the 200 and 400 IM as well as a bronze in the 200 butterfly.
During the 2013 World Cup Series Hosszu dominated the competition in terms of points winning the circuit with 840 close to three times as many as Alia Atkinson who finished second with 288 points. During the eight stops of the circuit Hosszu collected a total of 55 medals; 32 gold, 12 silver and 11 bronze.
During the first two World Cup competitions in Eindhoven and Berlin Hosszu set new world records in the 100 IM (57.45), 200 IM (2:03.20) and 400 IM (4:20.85).
She also set Hungarian national marks in the long course 50 backstroke (28.83) and 100 backstroke (59.40) as well as short course records in the 50 (27.18), 100 (57.04) and 200 backstroke (2:04.18), 100 butterfly (56.58) and the 100 (57.45), 200 (2:03.20) and 400 IM (4:20.85).
Tusup was also the Head Coach of the Hungarian National Team at the World Championships, a team that finished tied for fifth with South Africa winning three gold, one silver and one bronze in Barcelona. Earlier this month he became the first foreign coach in 55 years to win the Hungarian Coach of the Year honours.
Fred Vergnoux coached Mireia Belmonte Garcia to record breaking 2013. Belmonte Garcia broke the short course world records in the 400 (3:54.52), 800 (7:59.34) and 1500 freestyle (15:26.45) at different points during the year. She also set new national records in the long course 1500 freestyle (15:58.83), 200 butterfly (2:04.78), 200 IM (2:09.45) and 400 IM (4:31.21).
Belmonte Garcia also had great success at the 2013 World Championships on home soil where she came second in the 200 butterfly and 400 IM and won the bronze in the 200 IM and the 2013 European Short Course Championships where she won the 400 and 800 freestyle, 200 butterfly and 400 IM.
