Angharad Evans: Returning To The Pool After A Spell In The USA & Stirling Chemistry As British Champs Loom
In the second of two articles, Angharad Evans talks to Swimming World about returning from the University of Georgia, her coaches at Stirling and the inspiration of her teammates
Angharad Evans heads to the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships jostling at the upper end of the 100m breaststroke rankings but she could have been lost to the sport following a spell in the United States.
Intrigued by the appeal of living and competing in the USA and with an American mother meaning there was less red tape to navigate, Evans headed to the University of Georgia in autumn 2021.
However, the training regime was heavy on volume which didn’t suit her and Evans would often fall ill or come down with injury. She stopped training after a year and concentrated on her studies but after six months Evans decided to return to Britain, a little homesick and feeling she had more to give in the pool.
Angharad Evans: Photo Courtesy: Aquatics GB
She chose to continue her career at the University of Stirling under the stewardship of Brad Hay and Steven Tigg while also studying for a degree in business studies and management.
Since returning to training at the end of January 2023, Evans has become the first British woman inside 1:06 for the 100m breaststroke and an Olympic finalist on her senior international debut.
But it could have been very different had she chosen not to continue following her time in the USA.
Speaking to Swimming World, Evans said: “Sometimes I do sit down and just think about the journey I’ve been on and there’s so many ‘what ifs’ and ‘this could have happened’ but I do believe that everything happens for a reason. I learned a lot from my time at Georgia, I learned a lot from taking time off. I just feel like when I came back to the sport I knew I wanted to be in it, I knew I had more to give and I wanted make something of it which is why my mindset was completely set when I moved back to the UK.”
Swift Progress, Paris 2024 & Stirling Coaches
Following her return to the training pool, Evans finished third in the 50 and 100m breaststroke at the trials for the 2023 World Championships.
She made huge progress in the following months and into 2024. She arrived at the Olympic trials on the back of a 1:06.25 100br effort at the Edinburgh International Meet the previous month, just 0.04 shy of Molly Renshaw’s national record of 1:06.21.
While her winning time of 1:06.54 in London was outside the ‘A’ cut for Paris, Evans was selected for Team GB. She returned to the Aquatics Centre the following month for the AP Race International where she dismantled the British 100 record in 1:05.54, slicing a 0.67 chunk from Renshaw’s standard.
Evans made another journey inside 1:06 in 1:05.91 at the Sette Colli meet in Rome in June before she arrived in the French capital for her senior international debut.
She navigated the prelims and semis before finishing sixth in 1:05.85, a fine outcome on her Games debut but one that was tinged with some disappointment in the months following Paris given she was just 0.26 off a medal.
l-r: Abbie Wood, Angharad Evans, Eva Okaro & Freya Anderson: Photo Courtesy: Aquatics GB
Evans used it as motivation, declaring herself “proud but never satisfied” before concluding the year at the World Short-Course Championships in Budapest. There she set another British record of 1:03.45 in the 100m breaststroke prelims before going on to finish seventh in the final as well as eighth over 200m. She joined forces with Abbie Wood, Eva Okaro and Freya Anderson for the women’s medley relay as the quartet won silver in another national mark of 3:47.84.
It had been a year in which Evans announced herself on the international stage.
Some adjustments were made with Tigg leaving Stirling to take up the role of Aquatics GB head coach following the retirement of Bill Furniss.
He in turn was replaced by Ben Higson who returned to Stirling after seven years away working with Swim Ireland and the Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS).
The balance and chemistry have been right for Evans to enjoy a successful coach-athlete partnership with Hay and Higson both helping her manage her intense pre-race nerves.
“I’m very fortunate to have a coach like Brad,” she said. “It was just an instant connection and instantly we built that trust. And without that trust the coach would find it hard to trust you and you’d find it hard to trust the coach. It just makes it easier when training changes and if I didn’t have that coach relationship then I’d start to question the training that I’m doing. Especially when you have bad meets early on in the year which is completely normal for January, February.”
She added: “I would say Brad is more of a relaxed coach and Ben came in and was quite the opposite to Brad, opposite to what we were used to. But very quickly I really enjoyed that kind of training style because you have the relaxed coaching style of Brad but then also the coaching style of Ben. Having fresh eyes on your stroke and the two of them together is really a match made in heaven and I’ve really been enjoying training since Ben got here as well.
“With Steve leaving, it was nice to have the consistency of Brad being there – the coach that got me to the Olympics, the coach that got me all those time drops then also having a fresh set of eyes on my stroke.”
Ripples In The Water In 2025
Evans has already made waves in 2025. She won the breaststroke treble at the BUCS Championships in Sheffield with times of 30.98, 1:06.02 and 2:22.64, a PB of almost three seconds that elevated her to fifth British performer all-time.
She followed that up with 1:06.32 in the 100 and 2:23.80 over 200m at the Edinburgh International Meet last month.
Now all eyes are on the British Championships at the Aquatic Centre next week with the six-day meet – which doubles as trials for the World Championships in Singapore in July – running from 15-20 April. There Evans will have to get inside the cut of 1:06.31 (100m) and 2:23.04 (200m) while finishing in the top two in each race.
Duncan Scott: Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia
She’ll be part of an extensive Stirling squad that contains the likes of eight-time Olympic medallist Duncan Scott, Tokyo mixed relay champions Kathleen Dawson and Freya Anderson, Jack McMillan and Katie Shanahan.
It’s a source of inspiration for Evans.
“It’s unlike anything I’ve ever had before,” she said. “My training club at home at West Sussex was very small and Georgia was split into groups. To have people on the same wavelength as you that are as hungry as you in training, you just bounce off each other and you push each other. You help each other in training when you see that someone is falling behind, you help them get to the end of the set, verbally cheering them on.
“And I just think if I’m having a hard set where it’s been a long week, a long block of training and I see my teammates working as hard as they can, it makes you want to work as hard as you can. Not just for you but for them as well and also for the coach that you have a strong relationship with, it really is just a team environment where you want to perform your best and work your best for them and yourself.”
Qualification For World Championships, Singapore
Selection for the World Championships, which run from 27 July to 3 August in Singapore, will be based on performances at the Paris Olympics and the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships in London.
Swimmers who won a medal in an individual event at Paris 2024 will be selected to the Great Britain team for this event in Singapore.
Individual medallists in Paris were Adam Peaty (silver, 100m breaststroke), Ben Proud (silver, 50m freestyle), Matt Richards (silver, 200m freestyle) and Duncan Scott (silver, 200IM). Peaty won’t be competing in London as he takes a break from competition although he confirmed on Wednesday that he’s set for a tilt at his fourth Olympics after the IOC confirmed the inclusion of the 50m breaststroke at LA2028.
Relay medallists will be selected subject to confirmation by the Great Britain head coach, Steve Tigg. The men’s 4×2 free quartet claimed an historic gold as they defended their title from Tokyo with Tom Dean and James Guy joining Richards and Scott.
To qualify for worlds, a swimmer must finish first in an Olympic event and record a time that equals or betters those in the table below.
Athletes that finish second in a time equal or better than that in the table will be considered for selection to a team that will have a maximum of 30 athletes.
