Mel Marshall Heads To Australia After Guiding Adam Peaty To Olympic Gold & Uncharted Territory
Mel Marshall – who has blazed a pioneering trail with Adam Peaty to the top of the Olympic, world, European and Commonwealth podiums – will leave Aquatics GB to take up a high-performance role with Swimming Australia at Griffith University Swim Club.
The 42-year-old will leave her present position as Aquatics GB Loughborough Performance Centre Lead Coach immediately after Paris 2024 where Peaty will seek to win an historic third straight 100m breaststroke title.
Marshall will start her new role at Griffith on 1 January 2025, based at the Gold Coast, Queensland, following eight years at Loughborough.
Adam Peaty & Mel Marshall: Photo Courtesy: Mel Marshall
It comes after Michael Bohl announced he was to step away from his role as Head Coach of Griffith’s High Performance Swim Squad for a “long service leave” after the Games.
A pioneer nurturing, shaping and guiding another pioneer, Marshall and Peaty first crossed paths when the 14-year-old walked through her doors at the City of Derby club where she was head coach.
His first international title came in the 100m breaststroke at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Since then, the pair have changed the landscape of the 50 and 100 breaststroke.
Roll-call:
Three Olympic golds among five medals
Eight world titles among 12 medals
Sixteen European titles, the historic quadruple-quadruple – four golds at four straight championships
Four Commonwealth golds among seven medals
The first man to break the 58-second barrier in the 100 when he went 57.92 in April 2015
The only man to have broken 57 with his shuddering 56.88 world record that has stood since July 2019
The only man inside 26 seconds in the 50 with a WR of 25.95
Mel Marshall: Recognition And History For A Pioneering Coach
Marshall became the first woman to be named the British Swimming Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 2014, the first of three straight awards.
Since then, she has been named High Performance Coach of the Year by UK Sport in 2019 and British Swimming’s Coach of the Year that same year.
In 2021, Marshall was awarded an MBE for services to swimming and charity in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
Mel Marshall: Photo courtesy: Aquatics GB
It is not only Peaty that Marshall has guided to success.
Under her watchful eye, Luke Greenbank has won Olympic 200 back bronze and world silver, Anna Hopkin has become an Olympic mixed medley relay champion and five-time European gold medallist while Sarah Vasey won European and Commonwealth titles.
Marshall has overseen the Great Britain men’s medley relay squad – including Peaty and Greenbank – to world and European gold and Olympic silver.
That follows her own highly-decorated career in the pool in which she won world, European and Commonwealth medals.
A pioneer indeed, Australia have a gem on their hands.
Rob Woodhouse, CEO of Swimming Australia, said in a statement:
“Swimming Australia is committed to best practice, and this includes our coaching appointments. Mel Marshall is highly respected globally, including in Australia where she has brought her team out for training camps for many years.
“Mel’s coaching successes speak for themselves, and we’re delighted that she will be coaching in Australia in the future. I know Mel will also be fantastic in developing the skills of many of the outstanding young female and male coaches here in Australia.
“Additionally, we want the best coaches in the world working with our best talent to develop our current and emerging talent ahead of the LA Olympics and Mel ticks all these boxes.
“But for now our focus is on the Paris Olympics.”
Luke Greenbank & Mel Marshall: Photo Courtesy: Mel Marshall
A statement from Aquatics GB said:
“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.
“For now, the full focus of Mel, her athletes and everyone on the Olympic team is on delivering memorable performances in Paris later this month.”
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Hopefully she can lift Aussie Breastroke so that its internationally competitive. Possibly more chance in the Women’s with some young up and comers!