Sports Minister Richard Caborn was in Manchester today to witness the work being undertaken by the British water polo teams as they prepare for 2012.

Following the award of the London Olympics, the sport has received funding from UK Sport that will allow it to concentrate on building a team capable of competing when the biggest event in sport returns to home soil in just six years time.

Performance Men’s Coach Eelco Uri has already been appointed to lead the team in its pursuit of excellence and a women’s coach is set to be in place by the end of the year.  Uri outlined the plans for water polo and the Sports Minister was suitably impressed.

“The water polo teams are currently at a foundation level and I expect to see them develop over the next few years,” said Caborn. “British Swimming is in the process of putting a very professional system in place and I’m assured that we’ll be in with a fighting chance of success if not in Beijing then in 2012.”

Men’s Coach Uri, who has represented Holland twice in water polo at the Olympics, joined the British team at the Heliopolis International Water Polo Tournament in Egypt just two weeks ago and believes with the new programme in place they have a good chance of success.

“I attended the ASA finals earlier this year and I was impressed with the levels of talent I saw,” he said. “We’ve definitely got the potential to succeed.

“I hope my appointment will have a real impact. I’ve been through this whole experience myself when I was a player and from a coaching point of view, I’ve worked with national teams and junior squads, so I know what it takes to succeed at the top of your sport.

“What’s happening within British Water Polo at the moment is a once in a lifetime opportunity. It’s not just about the 2012 Olympics, it will go beyond that, but the next six years are very important and are going to go by very quickly - 2012 will be here before we know it.

“I envy the guys as players as they will be have the chance to compete at a home Olympics. But with that comes the responsibility to pave the way so future generations can make the most of the opportunity we have now.

“We’re at the start of something very exciting but it’s not going to be easy. We definitely have a system in place that will deliver success and I’m confident we can do something pretty amazing.”
 
The team will have their first opportunity to impress on home soil when they compete at the European B Water Polo Championships which take place at the Manchester Aquatics Centre from 8-15 July next year.

-ENDS-

For more information contact British Swimming media officer Amanda Smith on 01509 632238, 07876 652 318 or email amanda.smith@swimming.org

British Swimming is the National Governing Body for Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo and Open Water in Great Britain.  It is responsible internationally for the high performance representation of the sport. The members of British Swimming are the three Home Countries national governing bodies of England (Amateur Swimming Association), Scotland (Scottish Amateur Swimming Association) and Wales. (Welsh Amateur Swimming Association)  British Swimming seeks to enable its athletes to achieve gold medal success at the Olympics, Paralympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
www.britishswimming.org

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