BBC Breakfast visit Men's High Performance Squad

By Eileen Waller on the 5th, April 2009

As at April 2009, ASA/British Swimming are yet to give a single penny to the programme

Without further funding from UK Sport it is unlikely that the Men's programme will exist beyond September. British Swimming is giving priority to the women because there are fewer teams in their tournament - 8 as opposed to 12 in the men's.

As at April 2009, ASA/British Swimming are yet to give a single penny to the programme, yet they have a turnover of £32 million and 300 staff and are believed to be one of the biggest amateur sporting bodies in the world. Out of necessity the men will be funded by Friends of Water Polo until September 09 at £250 per player per month to match the amount received by the women and less than half of what they currently receive. This is particularly tough as many have relocated to Manchester to be part of the High Performance Centre. As such, many have rental agreements in place until September when supposedly contracts are renewed, thus funding from FOWP is in effect relieving BS of their moral/legal obligation to the players. Our aim is to help keep them going as long as possible to buy some time for further funding to be found.

British Gas have given £15 million to the ASA over six years of which a sizeable chunk will go the the performance end of the aquatic disciplines. Given that Swimming, Synchro and Diving have been fully funded until 2012 by UK Sport, however we understand that our Governing Body is only giving water polo £50,000 in all over six years.

There is support in the press for our cause and they are keen to be updated on progress. Simon Wright's help in putting together a portfolio of photo's should hopefully take us into a new era. It has been very helpful that the BBC have been able to co-ordinate dates with Simon to take best advantage of the day.

We are unable to get a sponsor for Water Polo as BS have a contract with Speedo for all the four disciplines even though Speedo do not make water polo kit. Also the deal with British Gas and Speedo means that any sponsor we identify cannot use their logo on costumes etc. Everything seems to work against us. ASA/BS wants fund raising to go to them, then they manage and control how it is spent. They also take a cut of any funding for 'administration'. This is why Friends is maintaining an independent stance so that all the funding we raise can go directly into the sport.

We are given to understand that David Sparkes (Chief Executive ASA/BS) will be in attendance for the BBC event, maybe to view his first ever GB water polo training session. No doubt the BBC presence is a big influence. The National Performance Director (Nick Hume) and the GB Men's Coach (Jerome Read) have both resigned but the Assistant Coach (Cristian Iordache) has assumed the Head Coach role. One positive is that Cristian enjoys the support and respect of all the players.

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