The pool - which will form part of a multi-million pound leisure complex at Beswick in Manchester - will still be much in demand as a community swimming pool for local people.

However, the loss of the water polo team's Rio 2016 cycle funding may, nonetheless, have an impact on the facility's financial planning.

This is because a £50,000-a-year ($83,000/€60,000) payment that was expected to be made for a 10-year period by British Swimming seems highly unlikely to materialise given the dramatically changed circumstances.

When high performance agency UK Sport's funding pot for the Rio Olympic and Paralympic cycle was first portioned out just before Christmas 2012, while men's water polo was cut, the women's team got an impressive increase to £4.54 million ($7.53 million/€5.54 million).

This compared with £2.93 million ($4.86 million/€3.58 million) given to the sport in the London 2012 cycle.

Yet, when funding adjustments were announced in February 2014, water polo was one of a number of sports to see their high performance funding removed.

UK Sport explained: "Water polo was among the sports that were not able to demonstrate they had a realistic chance of performing well within the top eight in Rio 2016 and targeting a medal performance in 2020."

Great Britain's women came last in the London 2012 water polo competition, losing 9-7 to eventual runners-up Spain in the quarter-finals ©Getty Images



In comments made after last week's decision not to undertake a legal appeal against the removal of water polo's elite performance funding, David Sparkes, chief executive of British Swimming, said: "Manchester City Council has had a long term relationship with water polo for over 10 years and have a fantastic development programme in place which sees thousands of children involved with the sport.

"This was supported by an elite high performance programme through UK Sport funding.

"We spoke with Manchester last month and alerted them to a loss of funding.

"The authority assured us this wouldn't reduce the city's commitment to water polo as they see it as a priority sport with real value.

"We will continue to discuss with Manchester and how we can continue to work with them in partnership for the sake of the sport and the great programme they've put in place.

"This will follow on from a meeting we're planning with Sport England to also talk through the future of the sport."

Sport England, which has invested £2 million ($3.3 million/€2.4 million) of Lottery funding from its Iconic Facilities Fund into the Beswick project, said it would be a facility for the whole community and that its investment was about "supporting the community to get more active".

Its investment would help create an efficient and sustainable community leisure facility - including a 35-metre pool, 70-station gym and dance studio - that would contribute to an improved quality of life for local residents.

It said the pool would have moveable booms and floor allowing it to accommodate swimming lessons, water aerobics and other water-based exercise classes.

Development of the facility was part of a rationalisation of swimming pool provision across the north-west English city.

It would replace a nearby 33-metre pool, built in 1978, that was at the end of its usable life.

The Manchester Evening News, a local newspaper, reported in December that the sports hub project had reached its first milestone, with the "topping out" of a new college, Connell Sixth Form.

Ironically, insidethegames understands that plans had been made to base an elite group of young water polo athletes at the college, as part of the drive to raise national standards.

Britain placed eighth and last in the Olympic women's water polo competition in London in August 2012, though it lost only 9-7 to Spain - the eventual silver medallists and current world champions - in the quarter-finals.

When it reported on plans for the new swimming pool in early 2012, the Evening News put a cost of £6.5 million ($10.8 million/€7.8 million) on the facility.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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