Millfield at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games
24 Millfield athletes and coaches took part in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, in Birmingham.
Millfield’s 24 selections hugely exceeded the 14 that they had for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia and the medal haul was exceptional, three gold, five silver and six bronze.
The Australian games medal haul was nine, six silvers and three bronzes.
Millfield’s 24 selections were made up of six current students and staff and 18 Old Millfieldians.
Upper Sixth swimmers Evan Jones and Tamryn van Selm represented Team Scotland and Team England respectively, while Year 11 student Jade Phiri represented Zambia in the pool. Millfield Director of Swimming Euan Dale headed to Birmingham as a coach for Team England, joined by Physical Prep Lead Daniel Waddingham. Millfield Director of Netball, Jenna Adamson, was called up as a coach for Team Wales.
A further seven OMs represented their respective nations in the pool in Birmingham. Double Olympic champion James Guy was joined by Brodie Williams and Cameron Kurle in the Swim England team. Kieran Bird swam for Wales, Emma Harvey for Bermuda and Tatiana Tostevin for Guernsey, while Imara-Bella Thrope represented Kenya, 40 years after her father Conrad Thorpe swam for Kenya in the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia.
OM Jazmin Sawyers flew the flag for England in athletics for the third time at the Commonwealth Games. OMs Hannah Cozens and Toby Reynolds-Cotterill represented Team Wales in hockey, while Niall Caley and Erica Hawley represented the Isle of Man and Bermuda in triathlon respectively. Stuart Rushmere was part of the Team England hockey side, while Alec Coombes was in rugby sevens action for Scotland. OM squash players Peter Creed and Colette Sultana also competed in Birmingham, representing Wales and Malta respectively. In the velodrome, OM Milly Tanner represented Team England while Lauren Bell represented Team Scotland.
Cameron Kurle
Cameron Kurle has been selected to represent Team England in the pool in his second Commonwealth Games this summer.
Somerset-born Cameron joined Millfield Prep for Year 7 in 2008, and remained part of the Millfield Community all the way until he completed Upper Sixth in 2016. In his final year at Millfield, Cameron was selected to represent Team GB in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.
Cameron is no stranger to Commonwealth Games success, having picked up two silver medals in the 2018 Gold Coast games, both in the 4x100m event and the 4x200m freestyle relay, where he competed alongside fellow OM James Guy.
Tamryn Van Selm
Tamryn has been earmarked for success since joining Millfield in Lower Sixth, and was selected onto the British World Class Swimming Programme soon after joining the school in October 2020.
Tamryn went on to claim the school’s first senior women’s international medal in over 20 years as part of the victorious Great Britain quartet at the European Swimming Championships in Budapest, Hungary. She swam the second leg in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay, securing one of 32 medals for Great Britain at the championships, at the age of 17.
Tamryn recently claimed a senior school record in the 200m freestyle at the 2022 British Swimming Championships in Sheffield, with a time of 1.59.07. She has signed to attend North Carolina State University on a swimming scholarship in September.
James Guy
OM James Guy is no stranger to the Commonwealth Games stage. At the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, he was part of the silver-winning team for the 4 x 200m freestyle, 4 x 100m freestyle and 4 x 100m medley events, and individually achieved a silver in 100m butterfly and bronze in 400m freestyle. His European campaign saw Guy bring home a hat-trick of gold medals in 4 x 200m freestyle relay, mixed 4 x 100m medley and men’s 4 x 100m medley relay. Independently, he took home the bronze medal in the 100m butterfly.
James represented Great Britain at the 2016 Rio Olympics, bringing home two silver medals in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay and 4 x 100m freestyle relay, and finishing fourth in the individual 200m freestyle race. Later that year he helped defend his men’s 4 x 200m freestyle relay world title and he swam the butterfly leg at the World Aquatics Championships to gain gold for Great Britain in the 4 x 100m medley relay.
In the World Aquatic Championships 2019, Guy won a bronze in the 4 x 100m medley relay and contributed to Team GB’s record-breaking 4 x 100m medley relay, culminating in winning Britain’s first gold medal in the event at any World Championships.
James starred at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning two gold medals in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay and 4 x 100m mixed medley relay and a silver medal in the men’s 4 x 100m medley. James was awarded with an MBE in her majesty’s 2022 New Year’s Honours List as a result of his outstanding achievements.
James relocated to Somerset from Bury, Lancashire in order to pursue his swimming aspirations at Millfield Prep School and Millfield. During his time at school he benefited from expert coaching and was introduced to the national and international stage.
Brodie Williams
Brodie won gold at the 2018 European Aquatics Championships in the 4 x 100m medley relay.
Brodie came to Millfield in Year 10 to further his swimming career and left in 2017. He worked closely with Director of Swimming Euan Dale, who nurtured him when he arrived from local school, Crispin Academy.
Brodie was selected to represent Team GB in two events at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, reaching the semi-finals in the Men’s 200m backstroke.
Kieran Bird
Kieran attended Millfield from 2016-2018 to realise his swimming dreams. Originally from Oxfordshire, Kieran boarded in Somerset throughout Sixth Form to benefit from the world-class training facilities and programme on offer, seldom seen at any other school in the country.
This will be Kieran’s first appearance at the Commonwealth Games. Now training at the University of Bath, Kieran has worked to fulfil a lifetime dream.
Kieran was part of Team GB for the 2020 Toyko Olympics, finishing eighth and sixth in the 400m and 800m freestyle events.
Evan Jones
Upper Sixth Millfield student Evan Jones will be representing Team Scotland in his very first Commonwealth Games.
Evan joined Millfield Prep School in Year 8, and has delivered impressive performances in the pool throughout his Millfield journey.
In June 2021, Evan was called up to represent Great Britain at the European Junior Championships in Rome, where he claimed a silver medal in the relay event. In October that year, Evan was selected for British Swimming’s World Class Programme alongside Tamryn van Selm, and OMs James Guy, Brodie Williams, Cameron Kurle and Kieran Bird.
Evan has been a mainstay in the Scottish Youth National Swimming Programme, and was selected for the senior Scottish national squad in January 2022.
At the recent British Junior Championships, held in Ponds Forge, Sheffield, Evan was crowned as British Junior Champion in the Men’s 200m individual medley and 100m butterfly, and gained a 2022 World and European Junior Swimming Championships qualifying times in multiple events.
Jade Phiri
Year 11 Millfield student Jade Phiri moved from her hometown of Lusaka, Zambia to join Millfield for Year 10 in 2020. She will travel to Birmingham to compete in her first ever Commonwealth Games.
The young swimmer has thrived in various sports since joining Millfield two years ago, as is encouraged by the school’s muti-sport approach. Alongside her swimming endeavours, Jade is also an accomplished rider, and was selected to represent Zambia in the ACES Youth Championships in Oran, Algeria in March of this year.
Jade travelled back to her hometown of Lusaka for the CANA Zone IV African Swimming Championships earlier this year, where she competed against swimmers from 14 East and South African countries. At the event, Jade won gold in the 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly and 50m freestyle disciplines, silver in the 4 x 50m free relay and 4 x 50m medley relay, and bronze in the 100m freestyle.
Tatiana Tostevin
OM Tatiana Tostevin attended Millfield from Year 9 to Upper Sixth between 2016 and 2021. She will represent Team Guernsey in the pool in Birmingham this summer.
In 2017, Tatiana was selected as flagbearer for Guernsey during the closing ceremony of the Youth Commonwealth Games in The Bahamas.
This will be Tatiana’s second senior Commonwealth Games appearance. In 2018, aged 14, Tatiana was called up to represent Guernsey at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia, which made her the youngest sportsperson ever to receive a call-up for the Guernsey national squad. Tatiana competed in four events in the pool across the games, picking up multiple personal best times.
In December 2020, Tatiana was called up for the Swim England Junior Squad for the 2020-2021 season, and soon after set new Island records in the 100m backstroke when representing the England South West Team at the Arena Lisbon International Meet in Portugal. Following her success, the young swimmer was named Young Sportsperson of the Year at the Guernsey Sports Commission Sporting Achievement Awards.
Emma Harvey
OM Emma Harvey will represent Bermuda in the pool this summer in her first senior Commonwealth Games.
Emma represented Scotland in the 2017 Youth Commonwealth Games in The Bahamas, finishing sixth in both the womens’ 50m freestyle and 100m backstroke events.
After completing her four years at Millfield, Emma accepted an offer to attend Penn State University, where she has continued her swimming journey.
Emma brings good form into the games, having just picked up two gold medals in the 100m butterfly and backstroke events at the Bermuda National Championships.
Imara-Bella Thorpe
Imara-Bella Thorpe moved to Somerset from her hometown of Nairobi, Kenya in 2014 to join Millfield. While at the school, Imara-Bella thrived within the Millfield Swimming programme under the tutelage of Director of Swimming Euan Dale.
At the recent CANA Zone IV African Swimming Championships, held in Lusaka, Zambia, Imara-Bella was champion in both the girl’s 50m butterfly and the girl’s 18 and over 200m freestyle. Her medal haul didn’t stop there, however, with silver medals claimed in both the 50m and 100m freestyle events.
Imara-Bella will be making her Kenyan Commonwealth Games debut in the pool this summer, 40 years after her father, Conrad Thorpe, did the same at the 1982 Commonwealth Games held in Brisbane, Australia. Her father will be at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre in Birmingham this summer to watch his daughter follow in his footsteps.
Milly Tanner
Milly Tanner will be representing Team England in her first ever Commonwealth Games this summer.
Milly was a high-level swimmer during her time at Millfield, and was even crowned as 50m freestyle champion at the 2015 South West Regional Championships. A year later, the day before travelling to retain her title, Milly pulled out of the event, feeling that her swimming had reached a plateau. Following a recommendation from her Millfield swimming coach at the time, Milly applied for a place on the #DiscoverYourPower campaign, a UK Sport initiative that looked to offer talented British athletes between the ages of 15 to 24 a chance to join Britain’s sporting elite in track cycling, skeleton or sprint canoeing. Just over a year later, having never took part in track cycling before, Milly was a member of the Team GB cyling squad.
Milly went on to become British team champion after winning the team sprint at the 2020 British National Track Championships. Last year, she claimed a bronze in the team sprint event at the UCI Track World Championships, held in Roubaix, France.
Alec Coombes
Alec Coombes will be playing in the Scotland Rugby Sevens team at this summer’s Commonwealth Games.
Alec attended Millfield Prep School from Year 8 and continued through the Senior School until Upper Sixth, leaving in 2014. Since leaving Millfield, Alec made his debut in the U20 Scotland National Rugby Sevens team and has been a core player ever since.
He valued his time at Millfield and is thankful for the influence it has had on his rugby career. Alec said, “The experiences I gained through being at Millfield definitely helped pave the path I took in sport after leaving in 2014. From playing at the highest level of schoolboy rugby and raising every trophy we could in rugby sevens, it exposed me to great competition. However, it wasn’t all high notes. I struggled with an injury throughout my time and if it wasn’t for the help and support from some of my coaches and houseparents, I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today.”
Jazmin Sawyers
This will be OM Jazmin Sawyers third successive Commonwealth Games representing Team England.
Jaz attended Millfield from 2010-2012 and was a talented all-round student who excelled in sport, the arts and academics.
Jaz has acrued a long list of titles across her career so far, including World Junior bronze in 2012, European Junior silver in 2012, Commonwealth silver medalist in 2014, European U23 silver medalist in 2015, European Senior silver in 2016 and eighth place in the both the 2016 Olympic games in Rio and the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Erica Hawley
Erica Hawley has been selected to represent Bermuda in her second Commonwealth Games this summer in triathlon.
Erica attended Millfield and Millfield Prep from Year 8 to Upper Sixth, and departed the school for the University of Colorado, Boulder, upon finishing her A levels. She has recently graduated with a degree in neuroscience and Spanish.
This will be Erica’s second Commonwealth Games representing Bermuda, following her debut in the 2018 Gold Coast games, where she placed 16th in the womens’ triathlon.
Erica will compete alongside reigning Commonwealth Games triathlon champion Flora Duffy for Bermuda this summer, and has her sights set on competing in her first Olympic Games in Paris in 2024.
Niall Caley
OM Niall Caley will represent the Isle of Man in triathlon at his first Commonwealth Games this summer.
Niall joined Millfield Prep for Year 6 in 2012, where he began multi-sport training and racing on a regular basis. Once moving up to Millfield, Niall benefitted from the school’s world class multi-sport provision, including specialist coaching from Director of Triathlon Christian Brown, whose appointment made Millfield one of the first schools in the UK to appoint a full-time triathlon coach.
After completing Sixth Form at Millfield, Niall joined the University of Bath, where he is part of the University Triathlon Performance Squad.Following the Commonwealth Games this summer, Niall has accepted a four-year scholarship offer to join Queens University in Charlotte, USA where he will continue his triathlon training and development. He will major in finance with minors in marketing and Spanish.
The triathlon event for the games will take place at Sutton Park on Friday 29 July and will be raced over a ‘sprint distance’ format, which consists of a 750m lake swim, a 20km bike and a 5km run.
Stuart Rushmere
Stuart Rushmere will be representing Team England in his first Commonwealth Games this summer.
Stuart joined Millfield Prep for Year 7 in 2012, and remained part of the Millfield community until he departed the school after completing Upper Sixth seven years later. Stuart is now a student at Loughborough University, and has been a mainstay in the mens hockey first XI since he joined from Millfield in 2019.
The midfielder was a crucial member of the Great Britain U21 side who were Sultan of Johor Cup champions in 2019.
In February 2022, Stuart made his senior England debut against Spain, and was selected into the Great Britain Hockey training squad a couple of weeks later.
Upon leaving Loughborough this summer, Stuart will join Men’s England Hockey League side Surbiton.
Toby Reynolds-Cotterill
Toby Reynolds-Cotterill attended Millfield for Sixth Form between 2013-2015. He will be making his first ever Commonwealth appearance this summer, representing Team Wales.
Goalkeeper Toby received his first international caps for Wales in late 2021 when he represented Wales in a test match series against Malaysia. Soon after, he proved an integral member of the Welsh team who qualified for their first ever Hokcey World Cup, which is due to take place in Bhubaneswar & Rourkela, India, in early 2023.
Toby was one of four Welsh players to receive a call up to the Great Britain Hockey training squad for 2022.
Hannah Cozens
Hannah Cozens attended Millfield for Sixth Form between 2013 and 2015. After finishing Sixth Form at Millfield, Hannah enjoyed an incredibly successful four years as a sporting scholar at Loughborough University, claiming multiple BUCS league and cup victories.
Hannah made her debut for the Welsh national team Wales in 2016 and has played in several major tournaments for her country, including World and European Championships. Over the course of her career, Hannah has earned 55 international caps.
As well as representing her country at U16, U18 and senior level, Hannah has also represented Great Britain at U23. She now divides her time between her international commitments, representing National Premier League club East Grinstead and her career as a secondary school teacher.
Euan Dale
A former Millfieldian himself (1997-2004), Euan Dale returned to Millfield after a six year hiatus, in which he attended Loughborough University, competing on their prestigious swim team and receiving a degree in Accounting and Finance. Euan is a highly decorated swimmer – a double Commonwealth silver medalist (400m IM & 4 x 200m freestyle relay), a European silver medalist (4 x 200m Freestyle relay) and a nine-time British National Champion. To top it off, he competed for Britain in the 2008 Olympic Games, swimming in the 400IM alongside the great Michael Phelps.
Since joining the coaching staff at Millfield in 2010, Euan has progressed from Assistant Coach to Head Assistant Coach and onto his current role as Director of Swimming. Euan has been instrumental in guiding and shaping the growth of Millfield Swimming since 2010. Euan has supported athletes to levels of swimming from the County to Olympic podium. He has worked with both British Swimming and Team GB over the course of his coaching career. He started his coaching career at Warrender Bath Swimming Club in Edinburgh where he worked with their age group program. Whilst attending Millfield, Euan was developed by current Director of Swimming at the Prep School, Helen Gouldby.
Euan is heading to Birmingham as part of Team England’s coaching team and will assist Millfield’s group of selected swimmers in their quest for Commonwealth success.
Daniel Waddingham
Millfield Athletic Development Lead Daniel Waddingham will be attending his second Commonwealth Games as part of Team England, having supported Swim England athletes as a strength and conditioning coach during the 2018 Gold Coast Games.
Daniel has an MSc in strength and conditioning from St Mary’s University College, and held strength and conditioning roles in various presitgious institutions around the UK before becoming Millfield’s Atheltic Development Lead in 2017.
Jenna Adamson
Millfield Director of Netball Jenna Adamson will travel to Birmingham as an Assistant Coach for Team Wales, having performed the role alongside her duties at Millfield since September 2018. Wales currently sit eighth in the world having moved up from 12th in the last four years.
Following an injury that cut short her playing career, Jenna moved to New Zealand to coach in the domestic Premier League, where she gained valuable experience not available to her in the UK at the time. On returning to England, Jenna completed a Master’s in Forensic Psychology, before becoming an Investigator in the civil service.
While working as an investigator, Jenna worked her way up the England coaching pathway, gaining coaching experience at various clubs and performance environments, coaching regionally and within the National Performance League, before being made U21 Head Coach at Vitality Netball Superleague franchise Severn Stars. Jenna joined Millfield as Director of Netball in 2017, and has built a thriving programme, comprised of over 11 different teams, during her time at the school.
Jenna gained her A award in netball officiating in November 2018, before being selected into the Elite England Development Officiating Group in 2019, enabling her to officiate both National Performance League and Premier League Games. In 2021, Jenna became the only active coach in England to attain a Level 3 Netball Coaching Qualification alongside holding her A award in officiating.
During her time as Director of Netball at Millfield, Jenna has built connections with a variety of Superleague franchises and was integral in setting up the Millfield Team Bath Academy Development Centre (ADC), which takes place on campus. This has allowed Millfield students to partake in an elite development environment, without having the challenges of travel and this has contributed to the success of the netball programme. The Somerset County Academy was also held at Millfield this year allowing students to see the link between the two pathways and receive additional on-site coaching. Alongside coaching Millfield and the Team Bath ADC Jenna has also been an Assistant Coach this season at the VNSL Superleague franchise Celtic Dragons.
In the 2022 season Millfield Netball had its most successful year to date becoming U14 and U19 County and Regional Champions. All three age groups competed at the Regional Schools Tournament with two age groups progressing to National Schools. The 2nd team finished top eight in the country in the Sisters in Sport National Cup and the U15’s finished runners up in the Independent Schools National Netball Cup.
Jenna led the 1st team to victory in the Independent Schools National Netball Cup, defeating Guildford High School in the final at the University of Hertfordshire. Her team came second in the England Netball National School Finals and were crowned Millfield Sport of the Year at the Brilliance Dinner.
Jenna will coach two members of the Millfield community at the games, with former Millfield netball coaches Celyn Emanuel and Beth Dyke being called up to the Wales squad.
Peter Creed
OM Peter Creed will represent Team Wales in squash in his second Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Peter attended Millfield between 2001 and 2005, and was coached by current Millfield Director of squash Ian Thomas.
Peter is a nine-time Welsh national champion, claiming his last title in 2019. In the same year, he led the Welsh team to bronze at the WSF Men’s World Team Squash Championships. Peter currently sits as the 128th ranked men’s player in the world, and has a career-high ranking of 57.
Colette Sultana
OM Colette Sultana will travel to Birmingham to represent Team Malta in her third Commonwealth Games this summer.
Colette attended Millfield for Sixth Form between 2011 and 2013, and was part of the National Championship winning Millfield team during her time at the school.
Colette departed Millfield for the Ivy League Columbia University, New York, where she continued her squash career.
She is currently the 277th ranked female squash player in the world, and has a career-high ranking of 91 in 2017.