Four townsfolk join the University Hall of Fame
Celebrates their outstanding achievements
A SPORTING Hall of Fame at Loughborough University has seen four town sportspeople added to the list.
The Hall of Fame celebrates the outstanding achievements of athletes and coaches who have made a significant contribution to sport at Loughborough and beyond. The new inductees’ sporting achievements have been celebrated among alumni, staff and sporting guests.
Ian Armiger, Karen Atkinson MBE, George Gandy and Caitlin McClatchey joined 55 existing members in the Hall of Fame.
Ian Armiger, a former Loughborough University staff member, devoted 15 years to swimming at Loughborough from 1997-2012. His 40 years’ experience as a professional swimming coach has helped a host of swimmers to achieve their dreams.
He developed a new swimming programme at the university, which firmly established Loughborough as the number one swimming environment in the UK.
Alumna Karen Atkinson played Netball for England for 17 years and is one of the most capped Red Roses players of all time. Karen made notable and significant contributions to England Netball and more recently shared her expertise with the next generation through coaching in the UK Netball Super League. The alumna studied physical education and sports science, graduating in 1999, and completed a Sports Science master’s in 2000.
The university’s lead endurance coach (athletics), George Gandy has devoted most of his working life to sport at Loughborough. He
has coached more than eighty international athletes, which include major international championship medallists such as Jack Buckner and Lisa Dobriskey. He has received the British Milers Club Coach of the Year award twice, in 1995 and again in 2008. George also has an honorary degree from the university and an MSc in human biology (1975).
Caitlin McClatchey is a triple Olympic swimmer. Her hard work and dedication came to fruition at the Commonwealth Games. In Melbourne in 2006, she won two gold medals at the Games in the 200m and 400m freestyle events,
setting a Games record in the 200m freestyle. Caitlin has held the British record in the 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle events, as well as the 4x200m freestyle relay. She graduated with a Politics degree from Loughborough in 2011.
Fellow Hall of Fame member, Dr David Moorcroft OBE, presented the four new inductees with their certificates. The former 5000m world record holder joined vice-chancellor, Professor Robert Allison to present the inductions, which took place at the Hall of Fame dinner at the Burleigh Court Hotel.