British swimmers aiming to compete for their nation at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo now know where their pre-Games training camp will reside. This week the British Olympic Association (BOA) signed training venue contracts with 3 Japanese sports facilities, one of which is the Yokohama International Pool based in the city of Yokohama. The city is just about a 45 minute drive from Tokyo.
Per British Swimming, the camp will allow athletes the opportunity to acclimate and complete their final preparations for Tokyo 2020 just a short journey from the heart of Tokyo. The Yokohama Pool, in combination with other sports’ facilities in Todoroki Stadium and Keio University, will be able to accommodate up to 90% of GBR’s Olympians, more than ever before.
National Performance Director for British Swimming, Chris Spice says, “We’re really excited about the agreement between the BOA and Yokohama. It’s a great facility and we’re looking forward to working with all involved in helping us with our final preparations ahead of the Tokyo Games.
“We will be in Japan in May of this year and will meet with our hosts again to make sure everything is set for us. Our plan is to go there for a British Swimming holding camp prior to the World Championships in Korea in 2019 which is the perfect practice ahead of the Olympic year.
BOA Chief Executive Bill Sweeney comments, “With three and a half years to go until the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, it’s fantastic to already have agreed our first preparation camp facilities and we thank Keio University, Kawasaki City and the City of Yokohama for their support of Team GB.
“Securing world-class training venues for our athletes plays a crucial role in gaining those final performance advantages in the run up to a Games and being so close to the Olympic Village and Tokyo itself is a great boost for the team who will fly out in 2020.
“From our experience in Brazil, we know the value in providing a world leading preparation camp with 21 medals yielded from athletes who travelled through Belo Horizonte last year as the camp played its part in Team GB’s history-making success. Still a number of years out from the Games, it’s terrific to see Team GB leading the way once again in being the most prepared delegation at an Olympic Games.
“We could not have found a better group of partners to support Team GB, build lasting relationships, and develop exchange programmes to engage their local communities and promote Tokyo 2020.”
Once again, great organisation from British Swimming. The investment in pre-Olympics camps paid off in Rio. This is what happens when funding is entirely based on Olympic results and discounts all other events – High risk, high reward mentality.
Nice. I love GBR’s investment in the Team. It showed in Rio, and their trajectory is still going up. Olympics is only fun when their is actually competition.