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.
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.
One way to fill Australia’s breaststroke drought 😂
Does this suggest Furniss is staying?
Aka Adam Peaty is retiring.
Yep seems so. To be honest would have been more surprising if he decided to swim on post Paris even if Mel stayed at Loughborough.