Courtesy: British Swimming
British Swimming has welcomed the confirmation from UK Sport of its funding allocation in the build up to the revised Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and through to Paris 2024.
The key piece of information for everyone preparing for Tokyo is that the investment in our athletes has been protected, with current levels of funding continued until after the Olympic and Paralympic Games next summer.
With the COVID-19 pandemic having caused financial impact across the globe, it is good news that UK Sport has managed to secure commitment from DCMS, so that we know where we stand in the build up to the next two Games’.
At the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, British para-swimmers contributed to a third of all medals won by ParalympicsGB, whilst on the Olympic side our divers and swimmers won three and six medals respectively.
Commenting on the UK Sport update, British Swimming CEO Jack Buckner said:
“Its great news for us that we are able to carry our full allocation of funding into 2021, which provides us with a fantastic platform to achieve the Olympic and Paralympic success we have been building towards over the past four years. We feel our programmes are in a great place and have every chance of success next summer.
“It is also useful that we now have a sense of direction for Paris and so thank UK Sport for working hard on this with the DCMS, to give sports clarity after what, across the board, has been the most challenging year in memory.
“Whilst our Tokyo Aspiration Funding has remained intact for Artistic Swimming (as with our other disciplines), the sport has missed out on Paris funding, as has Water Polo. Naturally, this is extremely disappointing news, especially given the strategic vision we have for the sport and the success of our duet. That being said, feedback for both of these disciplines was positive and we hope to have the opportunity to successfully bid for other investment in the future.”