15 December 2020
David Somerville to lead the Scottish Cycling performance programme in lead up to Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Scottish Cycling has appointed a new Head of Performance and Coaching as it looks to build on recent successes on the global stage. David Somerville arrives at Scottish Cycling from sportscotland, where he spent five years as High Performance Manager at the national agency’s Institute of Sport, working across a variety of sports including cycling.
Prior to that David was employed as National High Performance Coach at JudoScotland, where he was part of the team that delivered a historic 13 medals including six gold at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
He brings with him a wealth of experience in high performance sport, where he has worked with Olympians, Paralympians, World medallists, European medallists and Commonwealth medallists. He has also won a series of acclaimed national coaching awards during a successful career in sport.
His appointment comes at a hugely exciting time for Scottish Cycling which continues to enjoy unparalleled success on the international stage. Just two years ago Scottish cyclists won an incredible 10 medals at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, the most medals achieved by the sport at a single Games, and best performing sport for Team Scotland at the Games.
And he has already set his sights on helping deliver further success for Scottish cyclists at forthcoming events including the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
He said: “I am thrilled to be joining Scottish Cycling at an exciting time for cycling in the Scotland. The challenge of further growing Scotland’s talent pool in all cycling disciplines to achieve yet greater success on the world stage is not a challenge myself or Scottish Cycing can achieve on our own. I am looking forward to working with all members of the Scottish Cycing community, sportscotland and Great Britian Cycling Team over the coming years to further develop the ways in which we can support our riders' aspirations.”
David (46) from Glasgow, takes over from Gary Coltman, who will remain at Scottish Cycling as a Performance Advisor as part of a managed succession plan and to ensure continuity in the lead up to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Gary has played a central role in Scottish Cycling’s recent successes including the record breaking medal haul at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Chief Executive of Scottish Cycling, Craig Burn, said: “This is a hugely exciting time for cycling in Scotland following on from our achievements at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. But it is vital that we don’t rest on our successes and continue to look ahead to the future."
“Under the leadership of David the performance team will continue to focus on the long-term strategic plan, developing athletes to the level required to gain selection on to the GB Cycling Team Performance Programmes and Professional Teams and go on to achieve success at the highest level.”
