Aquatics GB is proud to announce a new partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University that will see Olympic champion Anna Hopkin undertake a pioneering PhD focused on understanding how female athletes, coaches and leaders can thrive within high-performance sport environments.
The research project, being delivered through Manchester Metropolitan University's Institute of Sport, represents a significant step in Aquatics GB's commitment to creating world-leading environments that support women to achieve their full potential, both in performance and leadership roles.
Working across swimming, para swimming, diving and artistic swimming, the PhD will examine how female high-performance environments are experienced and enacted throughout the Aquatics GB performance system. The project will combine academic research with practical application to generate insights that can directly inform policy, practice and future development across the organisation.
The research aims to examine how female high-performance environments within Aquatics GB are experienced and enacted to inform the development of more effective performance systems. It will focus on the following areas:
- Explore the lived experiences of female athletes, coaches and senior leaders across aquatic disciplines with particular attention to World Class Programme environments.
- Examine how AGB organisational policies, cultures, performance structures, and social relationships shape everyday practice and high-performance.
- Co-develop evidence-informed, female-centred approaches to creating high-performance environments in which athletes, coaches and leaders can thrive.
- Develop recommendations to support Aquatics GB in strengthening its ambitions, initiatives and policies relating to gender balance, equality, and opportunities for women.
The partnership reflects Aquatics GB's strategic ambition to be at the forefront of supporting female performance and creating inclusive, high-performing environments where athletes, coaches and leaders can flourish. By combining world-class research with the lived experiences of those operating within high-performance sport, the partnership aims to deliver meaningful and lasting improvements to female high-performance environments for years to come.
Anna Hopkin said:
"I'm incredibly excited to be starting this PhD with Aquatics GB and Manchester Metropolitan University. This is a fantastic opportunity to explore an area that I'm really passionate about and to contribute to building our understanding of how we can support females to thrive within high-performance environments.
This research will not only help us better understand what enables females to perform at their best within Aquatics GB, but I hope it will also produce practical insights that can make a real difference across a range of sports and disciplines."
Dr Ben Ives, Senior Lecturer in Sports Coaching at Manchester Metropolitan University, said:
"We are incredibly excited about this match-funded PhD with Aquatics GB, which aims to better understand and advance the female high-performance environment across aquatic disciplines. The partnership brings together our research expertise at the Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport with the knowledge and experience of those working at the very highest level of aquatic sport.
Through Anna's research, we have a fantastic opportunity to harness this collective expertise to generate world-leading research that directly informs policy and practice and, ultimately, helps create high-performance environments in which female athletes can thrive, both as performers and as people."
Steven Seligmann, Performance Team Development Director at Aquatics GB, said:
"At Aquatics GB, we believe that sustainable success is built on creating environments where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. This partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University represents an important investment in developing our understanding of the experiences of female athletes, coaches and leaders across our high-performance system.
Anna's research will help us better understand the factors that enable women to perform, lead and flourish within elite sport environments. Through evidence-informed insights, we can continue to strengthen our culture, enhance opportunities for women and ensure our policies and practices support long-term success.
This is about creating meaningful and lasting impact. By bringing together academic expertise and real-world performance experience, we have an opportunity to shape more inclusive, effective and innovative high-performance environments, not only across Aquatics GB but potentially across the wider sporting system."