Despite saying in an interview with SwimVortex earlier this week that his most famous charge, Ruta Meilutyte, would be taking her swimmer year a bit easier to focus on studies, Plymouth Leander head coach Jon Rudd won’t slow down this year. He will be the head coach of the English team for the 2014 Commonwealth Games: that country’s primary championship of the year (with probably a slight stature over the European Championships).
“It is a fantastic privilege to be leading my own country into a major games,” said Rudd. “There is something very special about being part of an England team in swimming as we almost always compete under the Union Flag.”
Rudd is also the coach of upstart teenage sprinter Ben Proud, who is now a National Record holder in the 50 fly – breaking a decade-old mark.
Meanwhile, Graham Wardell has been named the head coach of Scotland. He is a veteran of the sport, and his most famous swimmers are Katy Sexton and World Record holder Gemma Spofforth. He’s also the current coach of current Scottish leader Robbie Renwick.
Wardell’s post is a special one, as Scotland will be the host team at this year’s event.
“Glasgow is a very special city which I hold dear to my heart so it is a huge honour to have been given this opportunity to lead the Scottish Swimming team in Glasgow.
“I know we will bring all of the fighting spirit and tenacity for which Scots are renowned to ensure we set the pool alight with our performances.”
The third country on the British isle, Wales, will announce their coach in early October.
The Commonwealth Games are a unique event, in that each portion of Great Britain competes separately, including Northern Ireland, Wales, England, Guernsey, and other sub-countries within the remaining empire.
Australia typically dominates the swimming portion, but of the three countries on the main island, England generally takes the lion’s share of medals.
Note that the competition also includes select para events.
The 2010 medals table from swimming is below:
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Australia (AUS) |
22 | 16 | 16 | 54 |
| 2 |  England (ENG) |
7 | 16 | 11 | 34 |
| 3 |  South Africa (RSA) |
7 | 4 | 5 | 16 |
| 4 |  Canada (CAN) |
5 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| 5 |  Scotland (SCO) |
2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 6 |  Kenya (KEN) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 |  New Zealand (NZL) |
0 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 8 |  Wales (WAL) |
0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 9 |  Papua New Guinea (PNG) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 |  India (IND) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 44 | 46 | 43 | 133 | |
My information, at least from Scotland’s perspective, is that the Commonwealth Games are for sure the number 1 priority this year since its in Glasgow. European Championships is definitely a lower priority for them. I would imagine England feels the same being so close to home. And the chance to have a “redeeming” meet as they were disappointed with their Olympics. The chance to have their stars put on a great show in front of a “home” audience is such a great advertisement for the sport. I hope they pull out all the stops and regain their funding.
British nations have traditionally favoured targeting the Commonwealth games as their tapered event. They’ll rest up for Euros, but most will target a home games, and even though Scotland is the host nation, English, Welsh and Northern Irish athletes will view this as a home games.
The Scottish team has some very strong events (Mainly Men’s Mid-Freestyle, women’s IMs and all the breaststroke events for men). England have depth, Illustrated by their 34 medals at the last commonwealth games, for example, The English women could well have three sub 60 100m back swimmers in the shape of Lizzie Simmonds and the fast improving teenagers Quigley and Fullalove who are only .07 and .48 away from the barrier respectively.
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