British Swimming has this morning confirmed that the University of Bath will be one of just two
national centres of excellence in the build-up to the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The current Intensive Training Centre system is being changed following the forthcoming closure, announced last week, of those in Swansea and Stirling following funding cuts.
The two remaining ITCs, at Bath and Loughborough University, will become performance hubs for the sport from the beginning of the new year.
That means they will adopt a more all-encompassing approach to preparation, development and education for athletes and coaches, both from within and outside the centres.
David McNulty set up the ITC in Bath in 2008 and has seen it develop world-class swimmers like London 2012 silver-medalist Michael Jamieson and Bitton A-level student Siobhan-Marie O'Connor.
"It's an honour and an absolute privilege to be head coach of the new national centre," said McNulty.
"Over the last five years we've established a centre of excellence at Bath around an unbelievable group of athletes.
"The National Centre now boasts a squad that includes eight Olympians, an Olympic silver medallist, six podium athletes and four podium potential athletes. We can now put the best with the best in a training environment on a daily basis.
"We have great staff in place, are positioned in a fantastic city, have the support of a superb university and I'm now ready to take the new centre to the next level of sporting excellence."
Stephen Baddeley, director of sport at the University of Bath, added: "We're proud and excited to be named as hosts for one of British Swimming's two National Centres.
"British Swimming is one of our key partners and we worked together closely on the development of the Bath Intensive Training Centre, which has become one of the most successful high performance centres in the country.
"Today's announcement will take this relationship on to the next level and I'm confident the National Centre in Bath will play an important role in the development of successful British swimming teams for the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
"The wider role of the new National Centres is also particularly exciting given the University of Bath's academic reputation and its consistently impressive performances in higher education surveys and ranking lists."
As each of the venues sit within a university campus there will also be a residential element to what the National Centres can offer. This will first be utilised at both centres in February when athletes and coaches gather for a national relay camps.
Chris Spice, the national performance director for British Swimming, believes the shake-up will provide increased support and performance research to a wider group of athletes.
"British Swimming felt this was an opportunity to refresh the elite end of the sport and in doing so we're challenging ourselves to strive to get better," he said.
"These will look and feel like National Centres which is vitally important as we need to provide the right environment within which to pursue excellence.
"We've made the environment much more challenging for both athletes and coaches in order that, collectively, we make the improvements that are necessary on the world stage."
The elite-level swimmers currently based in Bath are Jamieson, O'Connor, Lizzie Simmonds, Andrew Willis, Joe Roebuck, Chris Walker-Hebborn, Rachel Williams, Sophie Allen, Alfie Howes, Anne Bochmann, Jemma Lowe, Calum Jarvis, Matthew Johnson and Jonathan Carlisle.
