Alan Bircher (born 21 September 1981) is a British swimming coach and former long-distance swimmer. He competed in six world championships between 2001 and 2008[1] and is a former coach of Olympic gold medalist Freya Anderson.
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| Born | 21 September 1981 (age 42) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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In 2004, Bircher placed second in the 10 kilometer event at the FINA Marathon Swim World Series[2] and second in the 5 kilometer event at the LEN European Aquatics Championships.[3]
From 2011 to 2022, Bircher was the coach of the Ellesmere College Titans (ECTM) swim club.
Controversy
editBircher was criticized for facilitating a body-shaming culture among his preteen and teenage female swimmers. In 2021, Bircher was blocked from joining Team GB's Tokyo coaching squad.[4] Though a group of eighty former Ellesmere swimmers signed a letter stating that no wrongdoing had occurred, one former swimmer alleged that Bircher weighed his team weekly from an early age. An independent investigation found 70 complaints about behavior across the Titans coaching staff and led Ellesmere College to shut down the club in 2022.[5]
References
edit- ^ "Alan BIRCHER | Results | World Aquatics Official". World Aquatics. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
- ^ "All FINA Swimming World Cup 2004 Results By OMEGA". www.omegatiming.com. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
- ^ "All European Swimming Championships Results By OMEGA". www.omegatiming.com. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
- ^ Byrnes, Liz (17 July 2021). "Alan Bircher Suspended by Swim England After Investigation Into Allegations Of 'Toxic Culture' At Ellesmere College". Swimming World. Sports Publications, Inc. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
- ^ Woods, Rebecca. "Ellesmere College Titans swimming club to close after damning report". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
Further reading
editExternal links
edit- "AlanBircher.com". Archived from the original on 9 February 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2007.
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