CAITLIN McCLATCHEY, one of the stalwarts of a Scottish swimming team which has excelled over the past decade, yesterday announced her retirement from competitive swimming with immediate effect.
The 29-year-old has had a remarkable career, with the highlight being her two Commonwealth Games gold medals that she won in the 200m and 400m freestyle in Melbourne in 2006, and is one of a select group of Scottish athletes who have won multiple gold medals at a Commonwealth Games. The Scot also competed in three Olympic Games and has won World and European Championship medals in an 11-year international career.
In a statement, McClatchey said: "I have some amazing memories and I am very proud of my achievements in the sport.
"I'm very excited to be starting a new chapter and taking on new challenges. Once I have finished my Masters degree in Performance Psychology [at Edinburgh University] , I want to be involved in sport and help others to perform at the highest level."
McClatchey's announcement comes in the week of the Scottish National Swimming Championships which begin today at Tollcross International Swimming Centre in Glasgow's East End. It is eleven months since Scotland's swimmers took Glasgow 2014 by storm, winning 10 medals, and they will return to the scene of those incredible Commonwealth Games performances over the next four days. As well as the chance to become Scottish champion, the event will give this country's top swimmers the perfect opportunity to tune up for the World Championships which take place in Kazan, Russia in July.
The big guns are out in force with perhaps the most intriguing rivalry in Scottish sport at the moment - between Olympic silver medallist, Michael Jamieson, and Commonwealth champion, Ross Murdoch - continuing this weekend. Murdoch famously upset the odds to beat Jamieson to 200m breaststroke gold at Glasgow 2014 but, as we are always reminded, past results mean little.
In the aftermath of that Glasgow 2014 disappointment, Jamieson took an extended break out of the water and then sought to change his breaststroke technique. The benefits of such a move were not immediate; the 26 year-old's form dipped to such an extent that he failed to qualify for next month's World Championships but Jamieson did not reach the level of excellence that he has without a considerable degree of resilience. If he is to get back on track for the Rio Olympic Games next year, he must seek to recapture that form that took him to second place at London 2012.
For Murdoch, this season is the first in which he is a household name. His victory over Jamieson at Glasgow 2014 was quite stunning but performing well as underdog is one thing, performing well as the favourite is quite another. The 21-year-old has much to look forward to this year though as he approaches his second World Championship appearance.
Hannah Miley, the double Commonwealth champion and face of Scottish Swimming for what seems like forever, despite being only 25, will be looking to add to her haul of Scottish titles. Miley's gold medal in the 400m individual medley at Glasgow 2014 was, in her mind, the perfect way to silence her detractors who claimed that she had stopped improving. This weekend's Scottish Championships will serve as Miley's final stage of preparation for her assault on the World Championships in a few weeks.
Former Commonwealth champion Robbie Renwick is competing as he prepares for the World Championships as well as the rising stars of Scottish swimming, Craig Benson, Craig McNally, Stephen Milne and Corrie Scott. Some of England's top swimmers will be making the journey north; the 100m breaststroke world record holder, Adam Peaty, and European champions Fran Halsall and Chris Walker-Hebborn, as well as Wales' Commonwealth champion, Jazz Carlin, will also be competing. And as Glasgow prepares to host the IPC World Championships in mid-July, four-time Paralympic champion, Ellie Simmonds, will compete, along with Scot, Andrew Mullen.
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