Talent of students and staff at the University of Edinburgh highlighted as Athletes, volunteers and coaches are shortlisted for five of the distinguished Scottish Student Sport awards. Awards Shortlist Grace Reid – Shortlisted for Female Athlete of the Year Image Grace Reid is one of Scotland’s, and Great Britain’s, most decorated divers. A specialist in the 1m and 3m springboard disciplines she is a double Olympian and double Commonwealth Games and European Champion. Grace excels in balancing a dual career as a student athlete, achieving exceptional grades as a Sports Science student at the University of Edinburgh as well as competing on the world stage. Grace is an inspiration to junior athletes, spending as much time as she can sharing her knowledge and expertise. Grace has been recognised by Edinburgh University Sports Union, currently holding the Eva Bailey Cup for Female Athlete of the Year, having also received the award in 2014/15. Grace has further been recognised by the University of Edinburgh by recently being inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame. Charlie Aldridge – Shortlisted for Male Athlete of the Year Image Charlie is a world class mountain biker and a third year Mechanical Engineering student, juggling a very demanding degree alongside a sport that requires a lot of travel and commitment, which is simply incredible. Charlie signed a professional contract with leading team Cannondale this year and has been at a training camp with Great Britain in South Africa for testing ahead of the Paris Olympics. Currently, Charlie holds the title of 2022 European U23 Cross Country Champion and 2022 British National Champion following his success in 2019 where he became Junior World Champion Charlie is also a huge advocate for student sport, taking part in every BUCS and SSS event he can, even those out-with his main discipline. Charlie also takes part in intramural activity with the Engineers Rugby Team. Hannah Adams – Shortlisted for Volunteer of the Year Image Alongside being a 6th year medicine student, Hannah is the current Vice President Intramural Sport at Edinburgh University Sports Union and has volunteered in IM Sport for the past 4 years. Hannah has supported the running of the Intramural Sport programme which caters to nearly 2000 students. Hannah has worked to implement strategies to improve the sign up and accessibility of IM Sport and created opportunities for students to provide feedback allowing the programme to continually improve. For the past 2 years Hannah has led the organisation of the IM All Stars event, by working closely with sports club committees and IM teams, building these relationships. She has doubled the sport offering at All Stars, introducing netball, basketball and squash making it the biggest IM event. As a result, the best players in the IM programme were showcased, allowing for Club Sport Teams to approach players to feed into their teams. Claire Cruikshank – Shortlisted for Coach of the Year Image Claire is the Head of Performance Ladies’ Rugby, leading a programme of elite athletes who balance international representation as well as studying and representing Edinburgh. Claire ensures player wellbeing is at the forefront through a detailed programme and excellent planning. Claire coached the University of Edinburgh first team to second in the BUCS National league, an incredible feat given that the team started the season with players away at the World Cup, and had to finish the season without key players, who were involved in the Six Nations Tournament. Five current and seven Edinburgh alumni were selected for the 2023 Six Nations. The numbers selected at international level gives credit to Claire’s coaching and support of the players to be able to compete at the highest level. The University of Edinburgh has the highest number of players from any National League team playing ladies’ rugby internationally this year. Claire also sits on the BUCS Rugby SAG and is a big advocate for player welfare, and the drive to constantly improve the BUCS rugby offering. She brings knowledge and experience from her coaching and involvement right across the game to add value. Women’s Fencing 1’s – Shortlisted for Team of the Year Image The University of Edinburgh Women's Fencing team have excelled in the 2022/23 season. The team have scored 100 BUCS points, making them the highest scoring female fencing team, and The University of Edinburgh’s highest scoring team on points. This season, the team once again won BUCS Premiership and excelled at BUCS Nationals, beating Nottingham 135-124 in their home Salle. The W1 Team includes fencers who represent various countries including Giulia Gasparin who represented Brazil at the 2022 World Championships in Cairo. Chhavi Kohli won epee at the SSS Championships this year. Individuals from the team also had success at this year’s Commonwealth Championships; Pat Krzyzaniak won Gold as part of the Junior Women's Epee Team, Mhairi McLachlan won Silver in the Senior Women's Foil Team and Ellen Buckley won a Bronze medal as part of the Junior Women's Foil Team. The shortlisted individuals have been invited to the SSS Awards Dinner on Wednesday 7th June, good luck to all those nominated for an award. This article was published on 2024-05-13
