Sport England pilots swimming reform

Three regions in England have been chosen to take part in a regionalisation pilot scheme to revamp the structure of swimming across the country, which could, in turn, initiate one of the biggest reforms of the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) in over a century.

Sport England has chosen the north-east, the south-west and the west midlands to take part in a six-month trial of its proposed initiative, which would see the creation of eight new regions from the existing structure of five districts by the end of 2005.

The project will be funded by Sport England, which will in turn examine each of the three regions to devise a corporate and operational plan in line with the existing corporate plan of the ASA.

Chief executive of the ASA, David Sparkes, said: “This is an opportunity to radically change the delivery of our sport at regional level and is perhaps the biggest change for the ASA in 200 years.” Details: www.britishswimming.org