British Swimming gets £1.5m funding boost as UK Sport invests £11.2m
- Published
British Swimming won a record eight medals at Tokyo 2020
British Swimming has received a £1.5m funding increase from UK Sport after enjoying a record haul of eight medals at the Tokyo Olympics in the summer.
It comes as part of an additional £11.2m of funding being put into summer Olympic and Paralympic sport to support preparations for the Paris 2024 Games.
British Swimming chief executive Jack Buckner said the increase would "help us offer more places for athletes".
At the Tokyo Olympics, GB swimmers won four golds, three silvers and a bronze.
Meanwhile, GB's Paralympians collected eight golds, nine silvers and nine bronzes in the pool.
Buckner added: "Our disciplines enjoyed a memorable Olympic and Paralympic summer, including a historic set of results.
"We are hugely excited for the future of British Swimming, and this helps give our athletes, coaches and staff the platform to continue making big impacts, in and out of the pool."
In total, Team GB won 65 medals in 25 disciplines at the 2020 event - delayed by a year because of the coronavirus pandemic - while ParalympicsGB added another 124 medals across a record-breaking 18 sports.
UK Sport chief Sally Munday said: "The collective pride of what our brilliant Olympic and Paralympic athletes achieved in Tokyo still shines brightly.
"To now be in a position to strengthen our investment across so many sports for Paris will undoubtedly help us in our ambition to reach, inspire and unite the nation."
Britain won 12 Olympic medals and 24 Paralympic medals in cycling in Tokyo and British Cycling has received an additional £1.1m in funding, but athletics and badminton are the only two of the funded sports not to receive a boost.
British Cycling performance director Stephen Park said: "The success in Tokyo, where we were more competitive across more disciplines with first medals in mountain biking, BMX freestyle and BMX racing as well as track and road, meant we were able to engage more people in our sport.
"This additional investment - thanks to the National Lottery and the recent government spending review - will enable us to maintain support for British riders to achieve their best over the Paris cycle, strengthen our plans to nurture the next generation of talented athletes, and continue our track record of inspiring more people to get active by getting on their bikes."
Dame Katherine Grainger, chair of UK Sport added: "We are extremely grateful to the prime minister and government for continuing to back our sports and athletes.
"Together with the National Lottery, their support of Olympic and Paralympic sport is the fuel which allows our inspirational athletes to perform and succeed on the world stage."
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