Welsh swimmer Jazz Carlin, her country’s first female Commonwealth Champion in 40 years, has found a new coaching foothold: ending a period of limbo after her former coach left for a job in Australia.
Carlin will be based out of the National Centre at Bath with coach David McNulty, and is expected to remain there through her 2016 Olympic hopes.
“I really want to thank all of the staff and coaches at Swim Wales for their support over the years,” said Carlin. “It has meant so much to me and has helped me to achieve so much in my career to date.
“It’s been a tough decision to make the move to Bath. But I’m really looking forward to working with David [McNulty]…I still have a big dream of competing at an Olympic Games and I am still very determined to achieve this. My only focus now is preparation for 2016.”
Carlin has been working with McNulty most of this year, but they recently formalized the relationship.
Carlin previously trained at the Wales National Training Centre in Swansea, but that program lost some of its funding late last year in a “restructuring,” and her American coach Bud McAllister left in February of this year to take over a job at an Australian High Performance Centre.
Carlin, who was announced this week as the overwhelming winner of the vote for British Swimming Athlete of the Year, had a banner 24th year. She won gold medals both at the Commonwealth Games (800 free) and at the European Championships (400 and 800 free), while adding on a silver from the Short Course World Championships (800 free).
Among others currently training out of Bath include Michael Jamieson, Chris Walker-Hebborn, and Siobhan-Marie O’Connor. Jamieson is an Olympic silver medalist, while Walker-Hebborn and O’Connor are both also Commonwealth Champions, though none are distance freestylers specifically. Lizzie Simmonds and Andrew Willis are also based out of Bath.