Great Britain’s National Team Head Coach Bill Furniss was recognized with a special achievement award at the Nottinghamshire Sports Awards.
This award honours Furniss not only for the exemplary work that he has done in the role of National Team Head Coach, but also the past success he had guiding Rebecca Adlington to double gold in 2008 and then double bronze in 2012.
Furniss took over the national team role in February 2013. Since that time Great Britain has seen some outstanding results. Last summer the country dominated the medal table at the European Championships in Berlin winning 24 medals in total including nine gold. They won nine more total medals than Italy, who collected 15 and three more gold than Denmark that won six.
The Brits also walked away from the competition with two world records. Adam Peaty set a new mark in the men’s 50 breaststroke while the mixed 4 x 100 medley relay also set a new standard.
At the Commonwealth Games when totalling the medal counts of England, Scotland and Wales the Brits came away with 45 medals in total 15 gold, 15 silver and 15 bronze. This is a strong improvement from the nine gold, 20 silver and 15 bronze that the three nations combined to earn at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
His next test will be this summer in Kazan. At the World Championships in 2013 Great Britain finished tied for 20th and only collected one bronze.
At the same ceremony Ollie Hynd won the Disabled Sportsperson of the Year for the second year in a row. Hynd won gold in the S8 200 IM at the Commonwealth Games and collected gold in both the S8 200 IM and 400 freestyle at the European Championships.
