By James Crook

August 28 - British Swimming have appointed former British Gymnastics official Tim Jones as their head of performance pathway as they look to improve on a disappointing Olympic cycle in the pool.

As head of performance, Jones led British Gymnastics to their most successful Olympic campaign at London 2012, in contrast to the underwhelming two bronze medals and one silver that Britain mustered at the Aquatics Centre in swimming events last summer.

British swimmers also failed to live up to expectation at last month's International Aquatics Federation (FINA) World Championships in Barcelona, taking just one bronze despite their target of three to five medals.

But Jones - himself a former international swimmer that has worked in the sport for over a decade - is confident that he can be a key member of the new management team to help British Swimming pick itself up and come back firing at Rio 2016 and beyond.

"I'm delighted to be joining British Swimming and I believe I can make a positive contribution to the sport," he said.

"I was attracted by the prospect of working alongside [performance director] Chris Spice and [head coach] Bill Furniss in building the new senior leadership team.

"I have a wide range of skills and experiences across a range of sports which I know can be utilised to the benefit of British Swimming.

"I'm looking forward to the prospect of building a new, stronger programme in the run up to Rio and 2020."

Francesca Halsall won Britain's solitary swimming medal at last month's World Championships; a bronze in the 50 metre freestyle

Spice added: "Tim is one of the outstanding performance leaders in the UK and he will make a terrific addition to our leadership team in British Swimming.

"His track record, not only in swimming but in athletics and more recently British Gymnastics, makes me confident we will now be able to drive forward the changes necessary for elite swimming from top to bottom.

"We welcome Tim and look forward to getting started as we build the programme toward Rio 2016 and beyond."

Jones will work with Spice in creating a clear path from the junior to senior international setups, as well as leading the strategic delivery of the world class athlete performance pathway to maximise the potential of the World Class Podium Potential and Talent athletes.

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