Twelve years ago, at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, a new era in Scottish swimming was born. With athletes entering the swimming scene, that would continue to dominate Team Scotland squads for years to come.
One of the athletes at the core of this, was Lucy Hope, with 2014 being a career highlight. Lucy is excited for what is to come this summer. Having had an incredible career to date, representing Team Scotland and Team GB all over the world. Nothing is being taken for granted as she prepares for her second home Commonwealth Games.
Throughout her career Lucy has been part of several medal-winning relay teams, including the team that won 4x200m Freestyle silver at the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships. Knowing what it takes at the highest level, Lucy is excited about the prospect of racing for Team Scotland this summer “over the past Commonwealth Games, the boys have had a lot of success in the four by two (4 X 200m) and in the medley. This summer, the girls have such a great chance in the four by one (4 X 100m), I think we may surprise some people and really just try and bring out our best.”
“You’ve got four people, unless all four people are on top of their game, you can’t do it by yourself, you need other people around you. I think for me, over the past four five years I have been able to bring that out in a relay setting, hopefully if I’m able to do that for Team Scotland that’s going to be extra special.”
Born and raised in the Scottish Borders, Lucy has always been incredibly proud about representing Scotland, and she believes that competing in the relay is one of the purest ways to do so “I think it is really special, I think to be able to do it with, you know, three other girls, or if it is a mixed relay, two guys, two girls, it is an honour to represent your country, and I think for a relay it is quite almost patriotic, because your name is not on the board, it is Scotland that is behind you.” Said Lucy.
With rising stars such as Jenson Norris and Dean Fearns being selected as part of Team Scotland’s swimming squad for Glasgow, Lucy is aware of her position in the team. Having competed in four Commonwealth Games, two Summer Olympics, and four World and European Championships “It will be really exciting to get to know them, and to be able to share some of my career knowledge with them.” Lucy said.
Throughout her journey in swimming, Lucy has been supported by sportscotland’s Institute of Sport. This support includes Performance Lifestyle, Physical Preparation, Performance Nutrition, Physiotherapy, Physiology and Psychology.
Neil Shanks, a Performance Preparation Coach with sportscotland’s Institute of Sport, has worked closely with Lucy throughout her career, coordinating the Performance Preparation programme for swimmers supported by sportscotland’s Institute of Sport, and being part of the Physical Preparation team at both the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Working out of University of Stirling, Neil and Lucy have been able to create a bespoke programme to work on what is best suited to help Lucy perform at the highest level “She has always been someone that’s wanted to develop a better understanding of how we can maximise her performance in the gym to actually allow her to execute higher intensities of swim performance.” Neil said.
Throughout her professional career, Lucy has had several injuries to her shoulders. To ensure that Lucy continues to perform to her potential, and is physically healthy, sportscotland’s Institute of Sport have been able to gain access to elite training and testing equipment. Through this they used a Force Frame Isometric Dynamometer. A system that accurately and reliably tests isometric strength in joints such as hips and shoulders. The information from the tests allowed Neil and other members of the multi disciplined team with sportscotland’s Institute of Sport to create a training programme that would continue to develop Lucy’s performance and shoulder robustness. Coming into 2026, a year that would provide Lucy with an opportunity to compete at her fourth Commonwealth Games, the focus has been on creating a training programme that will enable Lucy to peak at Glasgow 2026, Neil said: “It’s becoming much more refined and specific, to make sure that especially within the gym, especially within the swimming, to make sure what we pick has a high transferability to swimming, and a high level of transfer from a physical point of view to competition. But also, what gives her a transfer in terms of confidence going into a competition.”
