Caitlin McClatchey (born 28 November 1985) is a British former swimmer. Representing

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, she won two gold medals at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

, in the 200 metres freestyle and 400 metres freestyle. Representing Great Britain, she won bronze medals in the 400 m freestyle at the 2005 World Championships and 2006 European Championships. She has also competed at three

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

and reached the Olympic 200 m freestyle final in 2008 and 2012. She is a former British record holder in the 100 m, 200 m and 400 m Freestyle. She graduated with a politics degree from

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

in 2011.

Personal life

McClatchey was born in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, Hampshire, England and raised in

Brixworth Brixworth is a large village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. The 2001 census recorded a parish population of 5,162, increasing to 5,228 at the 2011 census. The village's All Saints' Church is of Anglo-Saxon origin. Loca ...

, Northamptonshire, making her eligible for the England team. However, she chose to follow in the footsteps of her parents, John and Louise, who swam for the Scottish team at the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

and

1974 Commonwealth Games The 1974 British Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1974 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Christchurch, New Zealand from 24 January to 2 February 1974. The bid vote was held in Edinburgh at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. The Games were off ...

respectively. Her uncle

Alan McClatchey Alan McClatchey (born 16 September 1956) is a Scottish former swimmer who competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and won a bronze medal as a member of the British 4x200-metre freestyle relay with Gordon Downie, David ...

was an Olympic bronze medallist in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

. She competed in

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

before opting to concentrate on swimming. She is a member of the University of Edinburgh swimming club, having previously been a member of Northampton swimming club. McClatchey has been in a relationship with fellow swimmer

Liam Tancock Liam John Tancock (born 7 May 1985) is an English former competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympics, FINA world championships, and European championships, and England in the Commonwealth Games. He specialised in backstro ...

since 2006. They married in 2019. She started studying for a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Performance Psychology at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in January 2013.

Career

McClatchey competed at her first Olympics in

Athens 2004 The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, finishing fifth as part of the British team in the 4×200 m freestyle relay. In 2005, she won a bronze medal in the 400 m freestyle in the 2005 World Championships. Competing in the 2006 Commonwealth games, McClatchey made national headlines by winning two gold medals. McClatchey won her first Commonwealth gold in the 200 m freestyle, defeating Australian favourite

Libby Lenton Lisbeth Constance Trickett, OAM (; born 28 January 1985) is a retired Australian swimmer. She was a gold medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics, the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was the world record holder in the shor ...

. In the 400 m freestyle she narrowly shaded a 3-way sprint for the line, winning in a time of 4:07.69. Also in 2006, she won a European Championship bronze medal in the 400 m freestyle. McClatchey competed in the 2007 World Championships, but did not win a medal, placing 7th in the final of the 200 m freestyle and failing to reach the final in the 400 m freestyle. She swam in the British team that came 5th in the 4×200 m freestyle final, setting a new British record. McClatchey was disappointed in her results and said that she needed to revise her training schedule to build up muscle. Selected for the

2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

she finished sixth in the 200m freestyle being the only Briton to reach the final. She was also selected for the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay team that was widely tipped for a chance of winning a medal, but a gamble to rest top swimmers; including McClatchey in the heats backfired and the team failed to qualify. This was particularly disappointing as McClatchey had already pulled out of the 100m freestyle individual event to concentrate on this. In 2009, she was a member of the British teams that set the UK records in the 4 × 100 metres and 4 × 200 m freestyle relays. As of 2014, both records still stand. She is also a former UK record holder in the 100, 200 and 400 m freestyle. McClatchey competed for Scotland in the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

in Delhi, reaching the semi-finals of the 100-metre freestyle, finishing fifth in the 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay, fifth in the 4 × 100-metre freestyle relay, and fifth in the 4 × 100-metre medley relay. At the 2012 Olympics in London, McClatchey reached the 200 m freestyle final, finishing seventh. She was also a member of the British teams that finished fifth in both the 4 × 100 m freestyle and 4 × 200 m freestyle relays. In late 2012 McClatchey moved from Loughborough University, where she had been based for the previous eight years, to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, after her coach Ian Armiger became head coach for the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...

. In Edinburgh she was coached by the head of performance swimming at the University of Edinburgh, Chris Jones. McClatchey announced her retirement from competitive swimming in June 2015.

Honours

McClatchey was inducted into the

Scottish Swimming Hall of Fame The Scottish Swimming Hall of Fame, launched in 2010 by Scottish Swimming, is an accolade (and virtual platform) to recognize and celebrate the lifetime achievements of memorable Scottish athletes in all fields of aquatic sports. It is an event t ...

in 2018.

References

* * *

External links

British Swimming athlete profileBritish Olympic Association athlete profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McClatchey, Caitlin 1985 births Living people Anglo-Scots Scottish female swimmers Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Scotland Alumni of Loughborough University Swimmers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Olympic swimmers of Great Britain People from Brixworth British female freestyle swimmers World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Universiade medalists in swimming Universiade bronze medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade

Personal life

Career

Honours

See also

References

External links