News

The next Sir Alex Ferguson? British Para-Swimming’s Rob Greenwood in line for UK Coaching Awards success

British Para-Swimming head coach Rob Greenwood is in line to follow in the footsteps of Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson after being nominated for a top prize at the 2016 UK Coaching Awards.

The UK Coaching Awards honour sports coaches and coaching organisations who have demonstrated outstanding success over the previous 12 months.

This year’s star-studded event will be held at the Holiday Inn at Wembley on Tuesday 29 November and Greenwood (above, middle of back row) will be in attendance after being nominated for the High Performance Coach of the Year.

Greenwood, who is based in Manchester, inherited the top job at British Para-Swimming in 2013 after ParalympicsGB had come away from the London Games in their lowest ever position in the medal table, seventh and with their smallest ever gold medal haul.

In just three years Greenwood helped to overhaul the mentality and performances of Britain’s swimmers, helping them claim an unprecedented total of 47 medals in Brazil, including 16 golds as they finished third in the medal table.

He also personally coaches a number of athletes at the National Performance Centre in Manchester, including British golden-girl Ellie Simmonds. 

Previous winners at the UK Coaching Awards include Jessica Ennis-Hill’s mentor Toni Minichiello and Sir Alex, and Mark Gannon, Chief Executive Officer of Sports Coach UK said: “Year after year our expert judging panel struggle to narrow down hundreds of nominees to our finalists and this year has been no exception; arguably it’s been an even greater task due to the multitude of sporting success we’ve had.

“These awards are a fantastic way for us to shine a spotlight on and express our gratitude and appreciation to the coaches who support and inspire us through sport and activity to achieve our goals.”

The 2016 UK Coaching Awards hosted by Sports Coach UK honours the sports coaches and coaching organisations who have demonstrated success over the previous 12 months, as well as being a perfect opportunity to raise the profile of coaches at all levels of sport and physical activity – visit: www.sportscoachuk.org

Image courtesy of British Swimming via Twitter, with thanks.

Related Articles