Former S6 pupil, 18 year old Katie Shanahan had a memorable summer competing in her first senior swimming events at both the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and European Championships in Rome in August 2022.

Swimming for Team Scotland, Katie had a fantastic start to her Commonwealth Games debut with a bronze medal in the 400M Women’s Individual Medley final on the opening day of the Games. Success continued with Katie making it through to the final of the 100M Women’s Backstroke final where she achieved eighth place.

Katie’s remarkable run in the Commonwealth Games continued with a superb second bronze medal in the Women’s 200M Backstroke final. Director of High Performance at Sport Scotland, Mike Whittingham, spoke highly of Katie stating

“A medal at this level of sport is a hugely significant achievement and the whole country is so proud of what Katie has achieved.”

In the last race of the swimming competitions, Katie and her Team Scotland members competed in the 4 x 100M Women’s Medley final, finishing in seventh place. A great end, to a tremendous competition in Birmingham.

Following on from Birmingham 2022, Katie joined the Great Britain Aquatics Team to swim at the European Championships in Rome in August 2022. Once again, Katie’s determination and hard work paid off as she won her first senior international medal – this time a silver in the Women’s 200M backstroke! Katie then finished off her time at the European Championships by beating her personal best time  by 1.5 seconds to qualify fastest in the 200M Women’s Individual Medley, finishing in fourth place and narrowly missing out on a medal place.

It has been a fantastic summer for Katie and everyone at Bishopbriggs Academy is looking forward to following her swimming career in the future. We wish her well in both her swimming and time at university.