British Swimming Receives Investment Boost

LONDON, April 12. BRITISH Swimming will benefit from an additional UK Sport investment of over £4.3 million in the run up to the Beijing Olympics. The extra funds were announced today by UK Sport as part of an additional £65.3 million funding package designed to help the sport in the lead-up to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

In total, aquatic disciplines will receive an extra £8,220,000 worth of support and this has been greeted by British Swimming Chief Executive David Sparkes.

"British Swimming welcomes this additional funding and pays tribute to the work which UK Sport has done to secure this vital injection of funds," said Sparkes. "This extra support will now enable us to prepare for the Beijing Olympics and begin to lay foundations for success in 2012. We need to build on successes across all disciplines at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and that will be our next challenge now that funding is secure."

Summer Olympic sports will receive an extra £58.8 million in the lead up to the Beijing Olympics and summer Paralympic sports will get £6.5 million. UK Sport will review progress after the 2008 Beijing Games before deciding how funds will be allocated in the four years up to 2012.

Swimming will receive £16,699,000 lottery funding for the period of 2006 to 2009, an increase of £4,329,000, while diving has been awarded an additional £591,000 to bring total lottery investment for the same period to £4,586,000. Water polo investment has risen by £1,824,000 to a total of £3,133,000 while synchronized swimming will receive an extra £1,476,000 giving a total of £1,617,000 over the three-year period.

The money is part of an extra £300 million that Chancellor Gordon Brown promised British sport in the run-up to London 2012 in his March Budget.

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