British Swimming Looking to the Future

LONDON, England, January 24. BRITISH Swimming and the Amateur Swimming Association have met Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Tessa Jowell to present a position paper detailing current initiatives and opportunities for the future. The paper was well received and as a result the sport will now revisit its Vision for Swimming to ensure it properly reflects the new openings that London 2012 provides while looking toward a lasting legacy.

British Swimming Chairman Chris Baillieu, ASA Chairman Mel Goldberg and Chief Executive David Sparkes met with the Secretary of State to detail work currently being undertaken by the national governing bodies as well as blueprints for the future.

“The paper is a mission statement that itemizes what the governing bodies are doing at the moment, what their intentions are in the short term and what we believe we have to work towards for the future,” said Winter. “It looks at what the ASA is doing in terms of developing the sport and in particular government agendas, such as health and activity, and how we can help the government to achieve their goals if given the appropriate resources.”

The document also looks at performance in the pool across all disciplines with preparation for the London Olympics already underway.

“We need to make sure we have a strategic network of facilities, which are affordable and accessible to swimmers, while increasing the number of volunteers in the sport and to give swimmers the highest possible level of coaching to help them achieve their potential,” said Winter. “With all of these initiatives we have to make sure they remain well after the 2012 Olympics and there is a legacy for the future. We need to ensure the future of the sport is secure and this paper shows our intention to do just that.”

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