Last month we reported how Tokyo 2020 Olympics-bound coach Mel Marshall was among those shortlisted for a prestigious national coaching award. The coach of Adam Peaty at Loughborough was a finalist in the UK Coaching High-Performance Coach of the Year award, one of twelve categories honoring coaches across all sport in the UK.
Marshall wound up coming away with the award last night during the ceremony, while Danielle Brayson was named Talent Coach of the Year.
Having worked with Peaty since he was 12, the close bond between Marshall and her top athlete helped the pair see the breaststroking ace become multiple Olympic, World and European gold medalist, and World record holder. Marshall has also helped hundreds of more swimmers in her role, including most recently having been on the British coaching team in Gwangju, Korea at this summer’s World Championships.
Per British Swimming, Marshall also supports the next generation of coaches coming through the England Talent Coaching Programmes through the delivery of workshops and by inviting coaches into the National Performance Centre environment in Loughborough.
As for Scottish coach Brayson, the City of Glasgow Team Performance Development head Coach has played a huge role in the development of Louis Lawlor. The swimmer represented Great Britain at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships in London.
Brayson also has a leading volunteering role with the Scottish National Youth Squad and helped Mark Ford and Katie Shanahan secure places on the GB team for the 2019 European Youth Olympic Festival. They returned with four gold and four silver medals between them, with Shanahan also selected to compete internationally at the 2019 European Junior Swimming Championships, where she won a further bronze medal in the 400m Individual Medley.
Mel Marshall does not look impressed with this award.