Influential Furniss retires as Aquatics GB Swimming Head Coach

Furniss will head into retirement as the most successful Head Coach in the history of British Olympic swimming, having led the team to 19 medals over the past three Games.

Most recently in Paris, eye-catching performances brought five medals and a historic retention of the Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay title, off the back of a best-ever performance by the GB swimmers under his stead at Tokyo 2020. That Games featured four golds, eight medals in total and a Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay world record to add into the mix.

As well as a scene-setting Olympics as Head Coach at Rio 2016 (one gold and five silver medals) and his first in that role at Atlanta 1996, Bill's position leading coaches and athletes on Aquatics GB's senior international teams at World Championship and European level over the past decade has coincided with a halcyon period of success, with British teams breaking into the top tier of international swimming nations, recording their best-ever returns at both World and European Championship level, and continually holding their own against outfits with much larger resources and pools of talent.

Under Bill, Performance Director Chris Spice and the coaching and support staff teams around them, the likes of Adam Peaty, Duncan Scott, Jazz Carlin, James Guy, Siobhan-Marie O'Connor, Ben Proud and Anna Hopkin have gone on to achieve multiple podium successes across the sport's biggest stages.

All of that success followed on from Bill's legacy as Head Coach of Nottinghamshire-based club Nova Centurion, where he famously coached Rebecca Adlington to two historic Olympic golds in the Women's 400m Freestyle and 800m Freestyle at Beijing 2008, as well as bronzes in the same events at London 2012. In his Nova role, he also worked with a host of other athletes who would go on to notable successes, before his appointment as Aquatics GB (then British Swimming) Head Coach for swimming in February 2013.

He was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2017 for his services to swimming.

Now, Bill's focus is on a future away from the elite arena with family, and taking time to reflect on a journeyed and successful career.

"After nearly 50 years of involvement in this great sport, it is now the right time for me to retire and spend more time with my family. The job is an all-consuming one, but one that I have loved - it is a privilege to have worked with so many dedicated athletes, and to work so closely with a great number of driven, world-class coaches and support staff as well," he said.

"I have enjoyed a close working relationship with our Performance Director, Chris Spice, throughout the past decade, to bring about a change of culture and belief of achievement on the world stage. That is something I am immensely proud of.

"While the time is right for me to step away personally, it is also the right time for Aquatics GB. A new Head Coach will have the full Olympic cycle to build towards LA 2028. I feel the sport in this country is in a strong position, and I will enjoy watching future successes across upcoming World Championships and European Championships, and then into the Olympic pool in LA."

Paying tribute to the impact of Furniss on Aquatics GB swimming, both as Head Coach and through his near five decades involved in swimming, Aquatics GB Performance Director Spice said: "It is hard to sum up the impact that Bill has had on the sport in this country - but it is safe to say he has been influential in the unprecedented achievements our athletes have secured in Olympic and World Championship pools over recent years.

"Bill's ability to work with each athlete and coach on an individual level is unmatched, and it shows not only in the results in the pool, but the cohesive culture that has become a central part of our swimming team in the last decade. While we have seen plenty of our athletes become multiple Olympic and world champions, forge consistently world-class relay combinations and play their part in memorable racing year in and year out, we have also seen plenty more become much more comfortable and ambitious within the biggest and most intense arenas our sport has to offer, and that is in no small part down to Bill and his work with our incredible coaching staff as well.

"We must also acknowledge his ground-breaking work with Becky Adlington leading into and beyond Beijing 2008, when she became Britain's first double Olympic champion in the pool for a century, which helped redefine what Team GB could do in the Olympic pool.

"We will miss Bill on poolside, with his direct and performance-focused approach, both at major events but also across our Performance Centres and other training environments, working on a daily basis with athletes and coaches to make sure they are well catered for and in the best position to perform. Our programme owes a large debt to Bill’s leadership and we have a responsibility to build on his legacy as we move towards LA and beyond. For now, we say a big thank you and wish him well in his next chapter.”