Warm welcome for Olympic athletes to Guildford

26 July 2012

An evening reception for Olympic teams, including Malta, Spain and Singapore was recently hosted by the University of Surrey-owned Surrey Sports Park.

Athletes from the various Olympic teams have recently arrived in Guildford for their final training preparations before competing in London 2012.  Surrey Sports Park was selected as the training base of choice for the teams, after the various delegations spent time touring the Sports Park and other sporting venues across the county earlier this year.

Speaking at the event, Paul Blanchard, Surrey Sports Park CEO, said: "We are delighted to welcome the Olympic athletes at the Sports Park, it's a great honour and privilege for all our staff and students. We'll be supporting all their training needs throughout their stay and preparing them ahead of the Olympic Games."Professor Sir Christopher Snowden, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Surrey, added: "We have excellent sporting facilities at Surrey Sports Park and hope the athletes' stay with us will be a great start to their Olympic ambitions."

Tens of thousands of cheering University of Surrey staff, students and local residents recently lined the Olympic Torch Relay Route, as the famous torch set off in Guildford, as part of its 7,000 mile journey around the UK to London's Olympic Games 2012.

Attending athletes and coaches included: Malta  (Niki Muscat, Andrew Chetcuti Andy Colbourn.) Spain -
(Luis Vallanueva - Head Coach. )Singapore - (Ang Pen Wee - Vice President of Swimming Ang Peng Siong - National Head Coach Aloysius Yeo - Team Manager Ian Turner - National Coach Sergio Lopez - National Coach Roger Fitzgerald - Physio. Swimmers: Tao Li, Lynette Lim, Mylene Ong, Joseph Schooling, Quah Zheng Wen.)