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annual report and accounts 2010

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contents 03 04 05 chairman s report chief executive s report excellence swimming profile keri-anne payne disability swimming diving profile jazmine stansbury synchronised swimming water polo profile scott carpenter 18 22 23 24 28 31 32 38 european junior championships helsinki international influence corporate 30th european championships budapest british gas intensive training centres uk sport athlete insight survey ipc world swimming championships eindhoven financial statements british swimming limited abridged consolidated accounts high performance swimming limited abridged accounts 42 thank you 02 british swimming annual report and accounts 2010

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i wish to take the opportunity to salute and thank all our dedicated staff and volunteers who serve our sport so well the british swimming family is in good spirits and ready for a once-in-a-lifetime performance over the next two years chairman s report it is with great pleasure that i present my second report as chairman of british swimming 2009 has been one of the most successful years in our history i hope you find this report interesting and that it adequately reflects our success in and out of the water following on from agreement of our strategic priorities the board spent most of 2009 working with the executive to develop our future plans we also reviewed our own performance as a board both individually and collectively this has been a most useful process and i am pleased to report that your board and the executive of british swimming are working well and are focused on achieving our ambitious goals for 2012 and beyond the world championships in rome demonstrated the progress we have made since those dark days in sydney 10 years ago with our best ever performance at a world championships seven medals and many records broken at british european and world level the ipc european swimming championships also proved to be a most successful event for our paralympic swimmers these performances as well as those at other events give us hope for the future without guaranteeing success we were especially pleased with the progress made by our synchronised swimmers and our water polo squads especially given the limited resources available to them their performances have enabled us to allocate additional resources between now and the 2012 olympic games 2009 was also special as it marked the first year in partnership with british gas we could not have hoped for a greater impact in terms of improved athletic and business performance initiatives like `duel in the pool and the exciting presence of our `hut for family supporters and partners at the world championships in rome demonstrated the potential for growth together we will build a new platform for the development of our respective organisations we are especially grateful for the enthusiastic way in which british gas staff have embraced the sport at all levels and the support they have given us in our efforts to change and improve performance our other partners and sponsors especially speedo and kelloggs have also responded to our challenge to be the world s leading swimming nation i wish to take the opportunity to salute and thank all our dedicated staff and volunteers who serve our sport so well the british swimming family is in good spirits and ready for a once-ina-lifetime performance over the next two years 2009 has seen british swimming build on its strong foundations and make real progress in many areas i look forward with my colleagues on the board to delivering an excellent performance through to and beyond london 2012 swimming across britain was saddened in the summer of 2010 to hear of the death of alan clarkson it is appropriate to pay tribute to alan for his great contribution to our sport and to his family for their support he was much loved by many at home and abroad a best-ever performance in 2012 will be the best testament possible to the efforts he has made on our behalf over many years it was so appropriate that he was presented with british swimming s first-ever fellowship in 2008 alistair gray chairman clockwise from below olivia allison and jenna randall james goddard chloe wilcox peter waterfield on the cover david carry british swimming annual report and accounts 2010 03

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we are now well into the final countdown to london s olympic games of 2012 indeed we are already planning well beyond 2012 in terms of both performance events and international strategy all this at perhaps the most turbulent economic period we have ever experienced chief executive s report david sparkes chief executive as i reflect on another great year for british swimming i must also contemplate the challenges ahead we are now well into the final countdown to london s olympic games of 2012 indeed we are already planning well beyond 2012 in terms of both performance events and international strategy all this at perhaps the most turbulent economic period we have ever experienced our athletes will soon be on their way to delhi to take on the best in the commonwealth the conditions will be challenging our friends from around the world will not make life easy for us and they will try to show how they have progressed but i know our athletes will all rise to the occasion i believe our performance teams are now amongst the best in the world if not the very best and they will have prepared our athletes in the very best way possible we wish them all well for next year we face more training more competitions as we build our athletes up for the ultimate challenge in london our job is to shelter our athletes from the economic storm and allow them to focus on the job they have to do with this in mind the board and professional staff have developed a number of key objectives building the brand of swimming developing sustainable finance streams building a world class innovative workforce developing partnerships working to a world class level we have agreed work streams around all these objectives and with your help we will develop these strategic programmes and have a magnificent springboard for the future for our sport after what we believe will be the greatest games ever in the history of british swimming in conclusion i wish to thank all our staff volunteers and partners for the unbelievable contribution they have made in the last 12 months and i invite them to join with me in the next year to do even more and as with our athletes continue an unwavering and deep commitment to our sport roberto pavoni 04 british swimming annual report and accounts 2010

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excellence the first of the british gas great britain v germany swim meet was held in swansea in february with follow-up meets scheduled for 2011 and 2012 fran halsall excellence swimming camp and competition programme at the major event of the summer britain s swimmers powered by british gas had a tally of two gold three silver and two bronze medals in rome s world championship pool gold went to gemma spofforth in the 100m backstroke and liam tancock in the 50m backstroke silver to jo jackson in the 400m and 800m freestyle and fran halsall in the 100m free bronze to rebecca adlington in the 400m freestyle and the 4x200m freestyle relay of jo jackson jaz carlin caitlin mcclatchey and rebecca adlington britain s other world championship swimming medal gold was won by keri-anne payne in the 10k open water the 2009 short course season presented world class podium and development athletes with several opportunities to compete at international level the world cup series european short course and the british gas duel in the pool meet held in manchester these meets saw some excellent performances resulting in a number of european commonwealth and british records the annual open water development workshop held in december at the wales international pool in swansea featured a range of activities for different groups and was attended by over 60 athletes parents and coaches athletes were selected from pool rankings in the 800m and 1500m events and with their parents they had a variety of informative lectures including presentations on british swimming s strategic plan philosophy and objectives a series of coach sessions on a range of topics included basic open water tactics the role of the coach in open water and sports science initiatives senior athletes took part in a day of media training with poolside and studio interviews and immediate feedback from a professional television crew whilst the development group practised open water skills and drills in the pool january saw 27 world class development athletes participate in a development camp in the barcelona suburb of sabadell spain originally planned as a training maintenance and evaluation opportunity the camp also developed into one where athletes were challenged to think about topics relevant to particular workouts such as stroke efficiency speed maintenance and personal technique this camp also provided for the exchange of ideas between coaching staff and sports scientists on a variety of themes january and february also brought the introduction of several new initiatives aimed at providing quality racing opportunities for world class swimmers these included the integration of world class programmes preparation events with the burns meet in january and the bucs championships in february in addition the first of the british gas great britain v germany swim meet was held in swansea in february with follow-up meets scheduled for 2011 and 2012 the open water midmar mile race held at the breathtaking midmar dam in pietermaritzburg south africa once again played host to an impressive british contingent of athletes for the 2010 event all these competitions were aimed at providing quality preparation swim meets for our world class swimmers in the lead up to the british gas swimming championships 50m in march the british gas swimming championships 50m acted as the trials for the pool european senior and junior championships and also the first selection point for the british open water teams in 2010 open water swimmers qualifying from these lizzie simmonds british swimming annual report and accounts 2010 « 05

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excellence liam tancock « championships went on to compete in the len cup in eilat israel in may for selection to represent great britain in the world championships european championships and european junior championships 2010 sees the last of the open water stand-alone world championships in canada and the last opportunity to contest a world class field before the olympic qualification event at the 2011 world championships in shanghai daily training environment within the daily training environment our main focus has been to strengthen and implement consistent systems and structures across our british gas intensive training centre network the itcs have seen a steady growth in athletes with 62 currently training across the network of which 84 per cent are on the world class pathway and 86 per cent have gained gbr selection for swimmers training outside the itcs podium and development clubs and individual athlete support programmes have been established the combination of all three strategies provides a broad approach to supporting world class swimmers and coaches in multiple locations across great britain a review of world class development clubs was conducted in april with three of the existing club programmes plymouth cardiff and millfield re-achieving development club status and two new clubs leicester and manchester identified an evaluation in october of performances at the major 2009/10 international benchmark events will form the basis of a review and the identification of podium clubs for the period 2010-12 the individual athlete support scheme that is targeted at world class podium athletes who are not training at an itc or podium/development club provides a package of individualised support to enhance the athlete s daily training environment additional investment from uk sport has provided for the appointment of a performance lifestyle adviser to establish an academic and lifestyle support service to our world class athletes feedback received via our six monthly itc evaluation process clearly demonstrates the need and impact of performance lifestyle support in a high performance environment in our aim to support world class athletes wishing to combine academic and sporting excellence a concept of `swimmer friendly universities is being progressed with the aim of identifying interested universities to commit to an agreed set of principles that support excellence in sport and academic endeavours the programme support and benefits available to athletes to help achieve and sustain this success the podium and development programmes have been renamed `swimming to podium success and `development london rio and beyond respectively there are currently 36 athletes on the podium programme with the next review scheduled in october following the commonwealth games.the april review of world class development athletes saw the overall number in the squad remaining the same 48 of which 55 per cent of athletes re-qualified with so much focus and effort being placed on performances at the home olympic games it is important not to lose sight of the development needs the world class pathway the world class podium and development framework has been re-structured and rebranded with the aim of placing more emphasis on attainment of podium success and to highlight l-r hannah miley james goddard rebecca adlington liam tancock and gemma spofforth 06 british swimming annual report and accounts 2010

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excellence the itcs have seen a steady growth in athletes with 62 currently training across the network of which 84 per cent are on the world class pathway and 86 per cent have gained gbr selection ieuan lloyd of the next generation of swimmers and coaches coming through our pathway to ensure that we have a vibrant system capable of producing podium swimmers for the 2016 olympic games in rio and beyond to this end the first meeting of the british swimming/home nations development pathway think-tank convened on may 18 the purpose of the think-tank is to examine the strengths and weaknesses of our current swimming pathway and to develop proactive strategies and kpis with clear roles and responsibilities for the world class programme and home nations that are integrated and seamless but at the same time allow for the unique differences of each home country sports science sports medicine sssm following a number of staff movements the sssm programme now has a full complement of sssm practitioners operating across the network and recruited via the institutes or directly by british swimming a service delivery model has been published illustrating the tiered level of support available to world class athletes located in the itcs podium development clubs individual club programmes as well as setting out the service provision at camps and competitions with winning margins narrowing it is imperative that we continually assess monitor and are innovative in our approach the latest sssm project initiatives include a force platform starting block and wedge for measuring power position and reaction swimtrack software providing quantitative analysis of starts and turns and an integrated athlete data management system starfish coach development the fourth development coach clinic was held in january with the conference spotlight on the contribution from the sport science staff to the national team programme covering topics such as athlete profiling swimsuit research race plans and neural aspects of training and the importance of brain function to athlete response coaches were also updated on the growth in open water swimming and britain s strategies in taking the world s leading position british swimming annual report and accounts 2010 « 07

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excellence profile keri-anne payne open water has brought keri-anne payne rewards that most athletes can only dream of ­ an olympic silver medal and a world championship gold she produced an almost perfect pair of results in the two premier events of world swimming in the space of 13 months she won the silver medal in the inaugural olympic 10km race in beijing then went one better in the equivalent event at the 2009 world championships in rome the open water medals do mean a lot to me but i really would like to succeed in pool swimming as much as i can probably one of the reasons i m still swimming is that i really enjoy the 200 and 400m ims open water can become violent sometimes you have 25 girls all coming into the same place as you are and it can get a bit rough you also have to deal with jellyfish and salt water and in two hours you can get really dehydrated the course is always different whereas in the pool you have your own lane and the water temperature is the same keri-anne was recently asked to pass on a little of her experience of the roughand-tumble to some of britain s rising open water stars by swimming over them during a training day in swansea `we were trying to simulate what a race would be like as none of them had really been in a situation like that before she says but adds with a grin `to be honest they were doing a fairly good job of swimming over themselves keri-anne s entry into open water three or four years ago owes something to the arrival at the stockport itc of cassie patten who went on to win the bronze to her training partner s silver in beijing `cassie had moved up from plymouth leander and had been doing open water for about a year says the world champion `sean [kelly their coach said to me why don t you give it a go and see how you get on it went from there and then it was the olympics while open water has dramatically raised keri-anne s profile as a swimmer the individual medleys can take their share of credit for keeping the former 800m freestyler in the sport in the first place they were also the events that got her into the pool events in beijing where she came 15th and 16th and rome 13th and 24th `i had a really bad couple of years about 2006 she says `i wasn t swimming very well or going anywhere and i almost fell out of love with it if you do this much training you have to love what you are doing i didn t have the fight in me that i usually had then we changed events and i started to enjoy it again it was the switch from 800m freestyle to ims that i really enjoyed the addition of open water came later still and interestingly the success it has brought has been done with little additional or specialist training `we don t train much for the 10k ten years of distance training is enough background for 10km she says the success achieved by keri-anne and cassie in beijing came as no great surprise to those of us who had followed their progress over the previous two or three years but it does seem to have surprised the silver medallist herself `i hadn t expected to swim that well at the olympics she says `i went hoping to qualify for the worlds and i would have been over the moon with anything better than eighth i didn t think i was going to get a medal in rome i probably put a lot of pressure on myself to try and perform but we got the result we wanted despite sean kelly s insistence that stockport does no special work for open water the itc is fast building a reputation that links it to the longest swimming event in the olympic programme as well as patten and payne the group now also includes two other open water internationals ­ katy whitfield who was keri-anne s 10k team-mate in rome and charlotte woolliscroft who swam the 5k in the same world championships the stockport stable also includes olympic finalist james goddard world championship finalist michael rock and commonwealth champion david carry who has been keri-anne s boyfriend for five years `it s been good having cassie there because if one of us is having a bad day the other gives a good kick up the butt to push on and do a lot better says kerianne `now there are four of us but we are all friends and what happens in the pool stays in the pool 08 british swimming annual report and accounts 2010

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excellence open water can become violent sometimes you have 25 girls all coming into the same place as you are and it can get a bit rough fast facts dob:9th december 1987 born south africa height:1.75m weight:67kg team/club stockport metro british gas itc stockport coach sean kelly majorachievement 2009 world 10k champion 10k silver medallist at the 2008 olympic games british swimming annual report and accounts 2010 09

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excellence our disability swimmers completed a successful 2009 and the team have an excellent foundation to build on for 2010 and beyond ellie simmonds « disability two major events dominated the 2009 season in reykjavik iceland the ipc european championships was the focus event with a smaller team attending the inaugural ipc world sc championships in rio de janeiro brazil swimming classification research project and it was great for the gbr team to have the whole paralympic family back together world championships 25m this was the inaugural world sc championships and came only five weeks after the european championships for gbr this was the secondary international meet europeans being the primary meet ipc set the scene for a challenging year by scheduling these two meets so close together and at the end of the year the toughest ever selection policy was put in place with the emphasis on gold medal potential despite this 20 athletes qualified the high standards clearly encouraged athletes to swim fast at trials this was a very strong meet for gbr in light of a smaller team we finished fifth on the medal table behind russia australia usa and brazil with 46 18 gold 16 silver and 12 bronze two athletes withdrew due to injury which undoubtedly had an impact on the medal tally but we have more new faces with world records and world champion status a number of big nations did not compete and as a result the championships had less than half the number of athlete entries compared with the european championships our disability swimmers completed a successful 2009 and the team have an excellent foundation to build on for 2010 and beyond in november 2009 the ipc made the decision to reinstate s14 athletes into the paralympic programme sam hynd european championships 50m the british team powered by british gas finished top of the medal table beating main rivals ukraine russia and spain great britain brought home 94 medals 39 gold 32 silver and 23 bronze equating to over a quarter of the total medals available sixty five per cent of the medals won by great britain were gold 35 of the 37 athletes won medals 94.6 per cent and 100 per cent of the team made finals the ipc swimming calendar has been missing a european championships since 2001 and this was an extremely important event for young british athletes to gain valuable major meet experience in preparation for the london 2012 paralympic games a number of nations have since declared their interest to bid for the 2011 and 2013 european championships which will ensure the permanency within the calendar and this will be the first time there will be a major championship every year leading into a paralympic games regional championships provide an opportunity for nations to develop their new talent and it is essential for the development of the sport in the european region athletes with an intellectual disability were invited to compete as part of ipc s agreement with iceland to host the meet this was used as a final opportunity to gain information for the ipc/inas-fid s14 swimming events will therefore take place in london 2012 as a result of this british disability swimming have established a fast track programme for the period 1st march to 31st december 2010 athletes supported for this programme will receive support in relation to home programme visits equipment and specific development opportunities new national performance director in may 2010 john atkinson was appointed as the new national performance director for disability swimming the new npd conducted an initial swot analysis of all areas of the world class programme in order to assist him to understand the various challenges and issues ahead a three-year camp and competition plan for the whole programme has been drafted a senior management team has been established and the first meeting took place during a warm weather training camp in mallorca in may a technical staff planning conference is scheduled for october `focus 2012 will bring together british swimming s technical team along with eis and disability administrators for planning sessions focusing in on london it will aim to include a tour of the olympic/paralympic site and is seen as a key building block in relation to staff buy-in to the plan for london 10 british swimming annual report and accounts 2010

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excellence one key element of the new strategy for diving was to increase the difficulty and improve the quality of technique many divers have now shown new dives with a high degree of difficulty helen and carol galashan diving tom daley british swimming annual report and accounts 2010 « this period began with the recruitment of a new national performance director alexei evangulov former russian national team head coach took on the leadership of the world class programmes from april 1 2009 three important competitions took place shortly after alexiei s arrival firstly the team powered by british gas won two bronze medals and had five top eight places at the arena european championships in turin italy two legs of the world series followed sheffield and mexico where the team performed successfully gaining the first ever gold medal for britain in the 3m synchro event ben swain and nick robinson-baker the team also took silver and a bronze in sheffield alexei organised team selections for the 2009 world championships to take place in may from coral springs the team then moved to fort lauderdale for the grand prix where they performed very well gaining one gold and three silver medals and five top eight places in july two major events took place the 25th university games in belgrade and the 13th world championships in rome in belgrade the twins helen and carol galashan earned fourth place for great britain in the 10m synchro the world championships in rome turned out to be the most successful event in british diving history britain placed third in the final team tables behind russia and china britain s position counting olympic disciplines was an impressive second the british team also gained one gold medal tom daley on 10m platform and six top eight places the 2009 european junior championships in budapest followed where the national team despite the absence of its top three juniors won silver and bronze medals and 83 per cent of the team made the top eight for their respective events britain finished fifth overall in the team medal table in september 2009 alexei evangulov led the annual coaches conference where he presented his new strategy for diving the plan of preparation for the major events in 2010 with analysis periodisation and targets was established as well as a new calendar and selection policy two new national competitions have also been added to the calendar the national 1m and 5m competition in november 2009 and the national cup in february 2010 both events were well organised one key element of the new strategy was to increase the difficulty and improve the quality of technique many divers have now shown new dives with a high degree of difficulty dd tom daley in particular has prepared two new dives on 10m platform with a high dd he demonstrated both at the national cup for the first time he then performed the dives at the world series in china march 2010 where he took fourth place the strategic plan 2010 also made it compulsory for the british team to perform at all grand prix events before the world cup 2010 china in june so far in the series the team gained three top six places in rostock germany with an excellent performance from peter waterfield on the 10m platform peter finished second behind the former olympic champion huo liang china and beat reigning olympic champion australian matthew mitcham and the 2008 world cup winner from germany sascha klein in march the team attended the grand prix moscow competition all individual divers made the semi-finals and two synchro pairs made the top four prior to the event a training camp in ruza russia had been organised where the team spent 12 very productive training days at excellent new diving facilities two junior internationals took place during the year in aachen germany the pre-meet for the european juniors six divers achieved a gold or silver and six top 6 places were achieved british diving undertook some changes to its technical staff structure in this period new chinese coach xinde zhang has been recruited for southampton hpc and julian bellan has been appointed as the junior development manager 11

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excellence profile jazmine stansbury training 40 hours a week would be enough time spent at the pool for most but for british synchronised swimming team member jazmine stansbury that s just the beginning `i practically live at the pool she says `some days i can have training 7am until 1pm and then work as a lifeguard at the pool from 2.30 to 10pm go to bed and then get up and do it all over again the 21-year-old has been based at the high performance centre in aldershot since september 2007 and hasn t looked back since `there are definitely a lot of challenges she said `but to be there with all the other girls doing what i love is great i ve learnt so much in and out of the pool jaz is a bubbly character that everyone immediately warms to `i think i try to bring a little bit of fun to training i m always happy she said her speed power and flexibility throughout her performances make her a key asset to the british team but it s more than just the athletic aspect of the sport that she enjoys `i really like the artistic side of the sport and it s always really fun when i get to help out with the creative elements so i try to do that whenever i can jaz shares a house with fellow teammates katie dawkins and katie skelton in aldershot `we have so much fun together i love living with them katie skelton and i are best friends and we re inseparable if anyone sees just one of us they always ask where the other one is her foray into the world of synchro came at the age of 10 `my dad s trophy business used to make the trophies for the local club and my mum had really liked the sport when she saw it on tv so she signed me up for some lessons growing up she was inspired by reading royals team-mate katie hooper `she was my idol when i was younger she was the british champion and the best swimmer at our club so i used to watch her a lot and wanted to be like her jaz quickly developed her own talents and in 2004 at the age of 15 was selected on to the england youth squad for the comen cup `it was so exciting to be selected for a national squad `as a little girl that was always my aim but i don t think my parents ever thought that it would turn into this since then jaz has competed at the junior european championships junior world championships and at last year s fina world championships in rome `competing at the world championships was an amazing experience it was the biggest event i had ever competed at to have all the best teams there and to get to compete against them and watch them perform was fantastic `i remember at the very end when we had finished our free team routine everyone was so happy we d been away from home for about a month we d swum as hard as we could and the coaches were really pleased with our performance it was just a great feeling after having a taste of competing on such a grand scale jaz has her sights firmly set on 2012 `that s my main ambition now my main focus i know that everyone is really excited about competing at a home olympics and i can t wait to get to perform in front of all of my friends and family there s no doubt that it s going to be really special `after the olympics i think i ll stick around for the next world championships and then maybe look to do something else `at the moment i do a little bit of coaching and i really enjoy that getting to see the improvements in the girls is really rewarding so it s something that i might look to do once i ve retired competitively 12 british swimming annual report and accounts 2010

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excellence competing at the world championships was an amazing experience it was the biggest event i had ever competed at to have all the best teams there and get to compete against them and watch them perform was fantastic fast facts dob:3rd january 1989 born reading height:1.60m weight:58kg team/club reading royals ssc high performance centre aldershot coach biz price majorachievement member of british team at 2010 european and 2009 world championships soloist at the junior european championships british swimming annual report and accounts 2010 13

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excellence england talent development squad « synchronised swimming the british synchronised swimming team powered by british gas got their first world team ranking since 1995 finishing 10th in the free team final at the world championships in rome in july the duet of jenna randall and olivia allison was ranked 10th having moved up 10 places since the worlds in 2007 and jenna randall finished eighth in the free solo final in the team combination final britain got their highest ranking of seventh other competitive highlights include the european cup where the duet and team finished sixth and the combo fifth the fina world trophy where jenna finished fifth the duet seventh and team eighth and the german open in march 2010 where great britain took two silver medals and one bronze the high performance centre hpc in aldershot is being used as an example of good practice by uk sport and our national performance director npd biz price gave a presentation about the set up at the uk sport world class coaching conference in november there are three core staff at the hpc the npd the national coach and the high performance manager along with 12 centralised athletes including three new athletes plus five english institute of sport eis staff the head coach left in january with the npd now taking on this position and foreign consultants being bought in in 2009 the top russian coach plus their olympic goldwinning duet athletes trained at the hpc with the british squad the duet athletes and national coach were then invited back to moscow to train with them the head coach of spain worked with the team and coaches at the national coach and judge clinic in september and the 2008 usa olympic team choreographer developed the gb team choreography there has been a changeover of some support staff in the eis but the working relationship continues to grow and be successful the junior europeans were held in gloucester in april with many countries participating the event was very successful with the use of ear piece radios for commentary being used for the first time and sky sports showing the event on tv the gb junior squad competed in three finals in front of a sell-out crowd and many lessons were learnt from the positives and negatives of competing in your home country to help prepare the senior squad for the olympics four athletes aged 12-15 were selected to the talent satellite athlete programme for 2010 and to receive training opportunities with the senior team and evaluations from the national coach the profile of the sport continues to rise with the bbc olympic dreams team following the duet athletes in their preparation for the world championships which will be broadcast in 2010 la fitness used the gb team in their pr stunt to promote their new gym facilities which received national interest and individual athletes are being featured in magazines and newspapers the team are now working on creating more of a profile using social media sites such as facebook lauren smith 14 british swimming annual report and accounts 2010

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excellence an added boost was given to the sport in december 2009 when the board of british swimming made the decision to continue funding the men s squad adam scholefield water polo the women s squad under szilveszter fekete continued on their programme and a new calendar was put in place to take into account the revised funding having already finished second in the senior women s competition in portugal our women were reinstated into the senior world league they were pooled with greece germany and russia over two separate competitions in greece and then germany the girls put in a creditable performance in both competitions and effectively stepped up the level of competitive play against the top nations then heading as strong favourites into the european cup of nations the focus for both senior squads and the junior women s squad they did not disappoint there the team dominated their group stage games heading into the final against the czech republic and finishing as champions after a 9-7 victory the british juniors had their u20 european championships in naples after competitions in hungary and a training camp in australia they came second in their group surviving to face the eventual tournament winners russia the performance was strong but russia came out on top and the team eventually played for the seventh eighth play off position against serbia beating them 14-12 cristian iordache started a new regime of coaching for the men s team despite continued uncertainty about programme funding the event calendar was busy in preparation for the europeans the team went to turkey poland macedonia and holland and gained some excellent results against strong squads ranked above britain in september the 13 selected athletes went to lugano for the european cup of nations and came top of their group heading straight into the semi finals they were up against turkey and after a physical encounter turkey took the victory and eventually went on to win the competition the british men then lost to the netherlands for third place but got the fourth spot into the european a qualifiers an added boost was given to the sport in december 2009 when the board of british swimming made the decision to continue funding the men s squad a new strategy to accelerate progression was then introduced by placing athletes in foreign leagues abroad due to our squad s excellent results and our programme innovation uk sport doubled our original funding level for the london quadrennial both squads powered by british gas moved their focus to the european a qualification tournaments in april 2010 also seven male athletes obtained places in clubs in australia to play the competitive season and the women continued their training in national camps based in hungary italy and greece alex rutlidge british swimming annual report and accounts 2010 15

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