The Performance Swim Team held a special send-off for its Olympic athletes at Sport & Exercise Pleasance. Image Swimmers Yvette Kong and Nicholas Quinn celebrated their Olympic achievement in the Sports Hall of Fame, surrounded by images to inspiring Olympians and former students such as Sir Chris Hoy and Katherine Grainger. Yvette will be representing Hong Kong in the 100m and 200m breaststroke as well as the 4x100m medley relay. Psychology student Nicholas will compete for Ireland in the 100m and 200m breaststroke in Rio de Janeiro this summer. The two enjoyed a specially made ‘Rio’ cake and refreshments with well-wishers during the send-off. It has also just been confirmed that Accounting & Finance student Geoff Butler will be joining Yvette and Nicholas in Rio, competing for the Cayman Islands. He will swim in the 400m and 1500m freestyle events. Yvette said, “I’m really excited about going to Rio. It’ll be my first Olympics and hopefully I can represent the University of Edinburgh and Hong Kong really well there.” Nicholas said, “At this stage, I can’t wait to get out there and get going. The Olympics is the pinnacle of sport, especially for swimming. It’s the pinnacle, it’s where you want to be, so can’t wait just to get out there and compete against the best in the world, see what I can do and enjoy the experience as well.” Head of Performance Swimming Chris Jones will also be heading to the Games to support Ireland’s swim team as a coach. The 2016 Olympic Games take place in Rio from 5th to 21st August. Publication date 19 Jul, 2016
