Double Olympian Andrew Willis has announced his retirement from swimming.
The 27 year-old breaststroker is one of the most experienced swimmers in the British Swimming programme, having two Olympics and three Commonwealth Games under his belt.
But Willis, who has been based at the Bath National Centre for the last eight years, had one stand out moment from a glittering career in the pool.
“For me the moment that will stay with me forever will be when I came out at London,” he said.
“The atmosphere and noise was just exhilarating.
“Rio was probably my highlight in terms of being the best prepared and giving my best performance, but London was definitely special.”
Since breaking into the senior ranks of the British team with a spot in the 200m Breast final at the European Junior Championships in 2008, Willis has been a regular fixture in the squad. Attending Delhi, Glasgow and Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and London and Rio Olympic Games.
He landed his first senior international medal in the summer of 2014, winning 200m Breaststroke bronze for England at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, before finishing fourth in the same event at the European Championships in Berlin the following month.
Speaking of the decision he added: “It really seemed like the right time for me to retire. I thought about it and spoke to my coaches, lifestyle advisors and family and thought whether I had another two years in me to get to Tokyo.
“Ideally I would have liked to finish after the Europeans, but now this has given me time to help out in the chemical engineering department at Bath, go on holiday and think about my next step.
“I’m really going to miss everyone at Bath, but the fact I’m here still helping out has given me some structure until I decide what to do next.”
In his lengthy career he secured a place in the final at the World Championships in Shanghai in 2011 followed by his first British Championships title in 2012.
In addition to focussing his attention on his efforts in the pool Andrew also took responsibility as an athlete representative in the Gold Coast – ensuring the younger members of the team were prepared for the event and passing on his experience. And on top of that also achieved a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering.
Dave McNulty, Head Coach at Bath National Centre said: “Andrew has been such an important part of Bath – he is always the first to welcome new swimmers into the centre and has shown such a strong presence both in and out of the pool.
“As coaches, our job is not only
to get the athlete to perform their best at the benchmark meet each year, but
also bring out their best lifetime performance every four year Olympic cycle.
“Andrew achieved just that in Rio, with a lifetime’s best swim in the final of the men’s 200m Breaststroke, finishing 4th.
“On top of all his achievements in high performance swimming he worked hard to get a degree, then went straight on to achieve a Masters, showing both can be done simultaneously.”
Chris Spice, National Performance Director for British Swimming, said: “Andrew has been a huge part of the squad during my tenure, and will be missed by the staff and athletes alike.
“He has battled on the world’s biggest stage and always given his full focus to every task we have given him.
“Whilst we are sad for him to be leaving us, we wish him all the best for his next step. And know if he puts the level of focus and determination into that as he did in the pool he will surely make a success of it.”