SWIMMING REVEALS BLUEPRINT FOR OLYMPIC SUCCESS
Swimming has unveiled a new development structure designed
to identify and nurture emerging talent while giving athletes
a clear pathway to the Olympic podium.
British Swimming's new look World Class Pathway will comprise
World Class Podium, World Class Development and World Class
Talent, and will be underpinned by a new Amateur Swimming
Association England Talent Development programme.
Funded by UK Sport, World Class Podium will focus on athletes
ranked top 16 in the world, World Class Development for athletes
six to seven years away from the podium and World Class Talent
will offer opportunities to identified talent that could be
fast-tracked further up the pyramid.
The former World Class Age programme will be replaced from
1st September by the England Talent Development Programme
with the aim of providing a continual stream of talented youngsters
for the World Class Pathway.
ASA Director of English Programmes Anne Adams-King explains:
"With the successful bid for the 2012 Olympics, the associated
changes to funding arrangements by UK Sport, Sport England
and the establishment of eight ASA Regions it was recognised
that a review of current talent programmes was required.
"Our Age programme successfully produced a stream of
swimmers into the former Youth and Performance programmes
but we felt the time was right for a change with the aim of
producing podium prepared athletes capable of delivering success
for Britain in 2012 and beyond."
The new system also takes into account limitations placed
on the development of athletes due to a diminished stock of
50m facilities which are integral to producing athletes able
to compete at the Olympics.
"With England's limited 50m facilities," said Adams-King,
"and the fact not all are being utilised effectively
to develop talent, we need to ensure the swimmers are able
to use the right pool and with the right coach.
The target is to develop eight to10 effective Regional High
Performance clubs (HPC) operational by September 2008. These
will be spearheaded by a head coach appointment at each programme,
underpinned by a network of quality-accredited clubs that
can give the best opportunities to emerging English talent.
"We've refocused on the entire process of identifying
and taking care of young talent," explained Adams-King.
"It's an exciting time for developing swimming within
England as we're going to have a programme that concentrates
on English swimmers which we've been unable to do for too
long.
"There are schemes in place in Scotland and Wales, and
now the plan is to put one in place, separate to British Swimming,
to develop the next generation of English talent.
"The ASA is currently talking to Sport England about
unlocking money earmarked to develop regional talent and we
will be detailing to the organisation where we are at the
moment, where we want to be and how we're going to get there."
The programme will be managed by an England Talent Development
Manager who will lead a team of eight Regional Development
Coaches (RDC) in their work to support Advanced Apprenticeship
in Sporting Excellence (AASE) athletes and their coaches while
providing technical support to the Regions.
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