In August of this year, Aquatics GB Head Coach Bill Furniss announced his retirement and we now know who will transition into the vacant role.
Storied University of Stirling coach Steven Tigg has been revealed as the new leader of Aquatics GB for the new Olympic cycle.
Having guided high-calibre talent to the tune of Duncan Scott, Kathleen Dawson and Jack McMillan, Tigg has been at the Stirling helm for the past 7 years. All told, Tigg has coached Stirling athletes to 11 Olympic and 27 Commonwealth Games medals during his tenure.
Tigg has extensive international coaching experience, having served on staff at both the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics in addition to multiple World and European Championships. He also led Team Scotland at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Tigg and Stirling coaching peer Bradley Hay were recently named join coaches of the year at the 2024 Scottish Swimming Awards.
That’s par for the course for Tigg who earned Coach of the Year awards at both the 2016 and 2018 Team Scotland Sports Awards, the 2018 British Swimming Awards, the 2018 British Swim Coaches Association Awards and both the 2022 and 2023 Scottish Swimming Awards.
On his new role, Tigg stated, “It is a privilege to be appointed Aquatics GB Swimming Head Coach, and to follow on from the legacy created by Bill Furniss. The success Aquatics GB Swimming has enjoyed over the past 12 years is testament to his expertise and coach leadership.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to take up the challenge of continuing this on as we move towards LA and beyond, and I’m excited to partner with Chris Spice and an exceptional cohort of world class coaches, athletes and practitioners in doing so.
“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.”
Speaking on the appointment, Aquatics GB Performance Director Chis Spice said, “Steven Tigg is an outstanding coach and leader and we welcome him to the post of Aquatics GB Swimming Head Coach. Steven has been in our high performance system since 2014 and enjoyed coaching success at all levels of performance swimming in the UK; he was the outstanding candidate in an extensive recruitment process.
“Steven has not only coached recent Olympic champions – Duncan Scott, Kathleen Dawson and Jack McMillan but has also successfully lead 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 lead 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.
“Steve will bring an analytical approach to our World Class programme alongside his unwavering desire to deliver more success for swimming in Great Britain. I very much look forward to working with him as we start to design our programme for the LA 2028 cycle.”
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.”
According to the University of Stirling, the process to recruit Tigg’s successor at Stirling – Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence – is underway and an announcement is expected within the coming weeks.
Assume Dunks will stay at Stirling?
Get him to Texas!
Dependant on who replaces Tigg I guess?