Aquatics GB has confirmed that storied British coach Mel Marshall, coach of Olympic champion and world record holder Adam Peaty, will be leaving her post in Loughborough after this month’s Olympic Games.
Serving as Aquatics GB Loughborough Performance Centre Lead Coach since early 2017, Marshall will reportedly be taking up the top post at Griffith University on the Gold Coast, Australia. (The Daily Telegraph) ahead of the 2025 season.
Besides Peaty, Marshall served as the head coach of the London Roar of the defunct International Swimming League, which gave her a ton of exposure to Australian swimmers. Early in the league’s history, the Roar included names like Kyle Chalmers, Cam McEvoy, Elijah Winnington, Matthew Wilson, Cate Campbell, Bronte Campbell, Minna Atherton, Emma McKeon, and other top Australian swimmers.
Others based in her Loughborough training group at various times include Charlotte Evans, Luke Greenbank, Sarah Vasey, and Imogen Clark.
Griffith, home to such powerhouse athletes as Kaylee McKeown, Emma McKeon and Lani Pallister, saw its longtime leader Michael Bohl make the announcement last month that he would be ‘slowing down and stepping away’ from coaching after a prolific 37-year career.
The statement on Aquatics GB’s website today read, “Aquatics GB can confirm that Mel Marshall has decided to step down from her role as Aquatics GB Loughborough Performance Centre Lead Coach after the Olympic Games and ahead of the 2025 season to take up a role in Australia.
“She will go with our full thanks, having been influential on our sport’s biggest stages, first as a swimmer and then as a world-class coach over the past decade and more.”
It’s notable that another Loughborough coach, Ian Hulme, head coach at the University of Loughborough also announced his departure, although his next base has not yet been revealed.
An accomplished athlete in her own right, having earned over a dozen elite international swimming medals, Marshall is most widely known as the coaching force behind Peaty, arguably the most accomplished breaststroker in the world as of late.
This is especially significant when looking at the arsenal of Australian swimming, which has been void of a sprint breaststroker for some time.
Although Zac Stubblety-Cook, 2020 Olympic champion, has made major waves in the 200m distance, the 100m race is still looking for its next star to take those reins and make a dent in the nation’s medley relay.
Sam Williamson of Melbourne Vicentre and Joshua Yong UWA West Coast both qualified for the Olympic Games in the 100m, although their respective times of 58.80 and 59.48 are chasing the world’s best. China’s Qin Haiyang and the Netherlands’ Arno Kamminga have both been under the 58-second mark and, along with Peaty, are podium contenders at this year’s Games.
Imagine Sienna Toohey and Mel Marshall working together!
I hope she works with Shannon
I hope she remains where she is as long as it’s working.
To the people saying this will end the Australian breaststroke drought. Mel is an absolutely amazing coach and I would never try to discredit her. She however didn’t make Adam peaty, Adam peaty. Adam is the greatest freak of nature this sport has ever seen. His levels of fast twitch muscle fibers are absurd and his endurance given the amount of fast twitch fibers he has is almost unimaginable. To say there will never be anyone like him again would probably be a lie, but in reality I don’t think Mel will probably ever get another swimmer of his caliber with the natural gifts that man possesses. Maybe she will, and I would love to be proven wrong; but I… Read more »
Adam Peaty was a phenomenal athlete for sure.
The thing is, that being Adam Peaty’s coach, and the coach of High Performance at Griffith, means two things: 1) access to more outlier athletes, and 2) the opportunity to continue learning.
Adam Peaty’s coach gets access to a lot more learning than even a really good club coach.
He’s neither dead nor retired… He’s still a phenomenal athlete 😉
Any information on her salaray? Is it likely that she’ll earn something comparable to Bob Bowman’s salary, or are swimming coach salaries lower in Australia?
Lower. Much lower They do get big money from coaching foreigners from China, Japan. That is what they say when asked why they take them
Curious why they announced this before the Olympics?
Probably, in case peaty does well, that no one transfers there hoping to be coached by marshall
Can’t wait to see what this would mean for Kaylee’s 100 breast.
It’s yet to be seen if she remains at Griffith. Last time her coached up and left she moved to a new club.
Imagining a Boxall trained McKeown. She’d be unstoppable
SPW was one of a number of programs McKeown trialled when she moved on from Sunshine Coast. NO coach, no matter how lauded, is going to be the right fit personality and methods-wise for everyone.
On the contrary…
It’s not ‘just’ about the coach, too much is made of their role at times. The assistant, the support team, the resources, all make up the environments necessary for athletes to excel.
The athletes themselves have given massive credit to Boxall.
As they should!
Sorry, but it will mean literally nothing for Kaylee’s breaststroke, or any of her other strokes or events.
Actually not sure I like this. I think Lani’s mum Janelle Pallister easily could have taken this position. Swim Swam could perhaps find out if she didn’t want the role? Seems strange.
Pallister has 0 experience at heading up a major program and Griffith Uni is probably no2 rank in the country. Yes, she is already part of the GU program, but she’s only really been there a couple of years; hardly a case that she’s been the long term no2/”right hand woman” to Bohl as was the case with Boxall at SPW.
Could she be capable of taking on the job ? Could this Marshall move go “pearshaped” ? Quite possibly, however I think there are legitimate reasons this has played out this way.
I’m sure Janelle will stay on, she runs the distance program
Tend to agree
If you’ve listened to any Pallister interview where she talks about how her mum got involved in coaching she made it very clear that Janelle seemed apprehensive in taking on any coaching position so to me it sounds like she probably wouldn’t have wanted such a massive role in the first place
Bohl hasn’t confirmed he’s retiring though it’s a 12 month break.
One way to fill Australia’s breaststroke drought 😂
Marshall has BIG shoes to fill replacing Bohl! She coaches Peaty but Bohl resume is 10x or more impressive.
Not very many with a comparable resume to Bohl. Especially if you only consider currently active coaches.
Bohl coached Steph Rice and Emma McKeon to double individual Olympic golds, and could get another 2-3 with Kaylee this time. Any other big swimmer that I’ve missed?