City of Derby head coach Mel Marshall was honored as the British Swimming Coach of the Year on Saturday evening for the second-consecutive occasion. The choice was an obvious one – he was one of only three individual medalists in Rio for the Brits, and his breaststroke World-Record-setting dominance is nearly-unparalleled in the stroke during the modern era.
Peaty had for years struggled off the blocks and on his underwaters, and was the best sprint breaststroker on earth anyway. In the run-up to Rio, though, under Marshall’s tutelage, his start switched from a liability to a strength, and the result was an unstoppable force. He broke the World Record in prelims (57.55) and again in finals (57.13) to win gold.
Peaty is the headliner of Marshall’s Derby-based club, and he’s part of an elite training group that includes breaststroker Sarah Vasey, who transferred from Derventio Excel in late 2015; and 15-year old British Paralympian Lewis White.
Below, Marshall talks with British Swimming from Saturday’s awards program about her award and reviews the year in British Swimming.
At the risk of being shot down in flames … Mel Marshall has obviously done all the right things to make Adam the beast that he is but is it right that a coach who (and I’ve just checked) only has two other swimmers in the top ten British rankings, male or female in all long course events, should be hailed as Britain’s best coach? One of those other swimmers is Sarah Vasey who, as the article points out, only joined the club recently.