Celebrating Women’s Sport Week 2017

It’s Women’s Sport Week 2017, a celebration of everything that is great about women’s sport.

This summer we have a spectacular line up of sporting events, from the Swim England National Summer Meet 2017 to the FINA World Championships taking place in Budapest in Hungary. There will be some amazing achievements by women in sport, of that we have no doubt.

Across all levels of our sports, there are countless women who have done incredible things. Whether they are simply an inspiration to others around them or are dedicated to increasing the opportunities available for people to get into sport.

As part of Women’s Sport Week, we want to highlight a few of our heroes from the last 12 months.

Celebrating the heroes of our sport

The last 12 months have been very successful for our sports. Fifteen English female swimmers secured medals at the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Siobhan-Marie O’Connor won silver in the women’s 200m Individual Medley, one of two English swimming medals at the Olympics.

Northern Ireland born Bethany Firth, who now swims for Newcastle Swim Team, was the most decorated athlete at the Paralympic Games. She secured four gold medals, one world record and two Paralympic records.

The Women’s Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay team (34pts) also secured a world record. The gold medal winning victory came at the hands of Alice Tai, Steph Slater, Steph Millward and Claire Cashmore.

It wasn’t just the athletes that made their mark in Rio. Perhaps one of the most well-known coaches in the swimming world Mel Marshall, is Adam Peaty’s coach. She helped Peaty to his historic gold medal in the 100m Breaststroke in which he broke the world record twice on his way.

Mel is passionate and dedicated to sport at all levels. Although she is a world class swimming coach, she also volunteers her time to bring sport to disadvantaged children. She is currently preparing to complete the Zambia 50/50 challenge.

This challenge will see Mel and her team taking on 50 hours of sport, with an aim to raise £50k. This money will go towards building a residential sports training centre for young Zambians. Find out more about the fundraising campaign here.

Recognise the dedication of someone you know

Do you know anyone who dedicates their time to bring more opportunities for people to go swimming? They could be a teacher or coach who constantly strives to get the best from their swimmers, a young person who has just started on their swimming journey and is building water confidence or a volunteer who regularly gives up their time to help out at a club or local swimming events.

Nominations are currently open for the Swim England National Awards. The event highlights all of the amazing work people and organisations in the aquatics industry do every day.

You can find out more about the event, look through the nomination criteria and submit a nomination on the National Awards page. Nominations close on 16 July.

More about Women’s Sport Week

Women’s Sport Week is all about highlighting the amazing things that women do in sport. Whether they are breaking records, or just getting out there and doing sport because they love it, there are so many inspirational stories from all sports, from all across the world.

This year Women’s Sport Week is running from the 19-25 June. Hopefully the campaign will get people talking about women’s sport. In turn, this should encourage more women and girls reach their full potential through sport.

• Click here to find out more about the 2017 Women’s Sport Week campaign.