Graeme Thompson, the National Performance Director for British Water Polo,
has set out his agenda for the Rio 2016 Olympic cycle as he begins his
tenure at the helm.
Thompson joined British Swimming in April 2013 and has been tasked with a
key objective to build on the progress the team has made in the past few
years, qualifying for the European Championships for the first time in 15
years in 2012 and the experience gained from competing at the London 2012
Olympics.
The primary focus will be to gain Olympic qualification for Rio 2016 and to
improve on their London performance results.
“The team have made significant progress in the past few years. We now need
to move the players on and start turning over more regularly some of the top
teams,” said Thompson.
“The ladies have great potential and their ability has been demonstrated in
their results over the past couple of years, beating World Champions Greece
and finishing seventh at the 2012 LEN European Championships.
“I am now looking for a new Head Coach to drive the team forward and take us
up to the next stage. I believe we have a fantastic opportunity here at the
High Performance Centre in Manchester with the additional funding from UK
Sport.”
Water Polo was one of the few team sports to be awarded funding from UK
Sport in December, and saw a rise from £2.9m shared between both the men’s
and women’s squads to £4.5m allocated solely to the women’s programme.
With this funding secured until March 2017, Thompson believes that working
in the sport will be an exceptional opportunity for numerous high level
coaches in the Water Polo world.
“There has never been such an exciting time in British Water Polo,” he
explained. “With four years of funding guaranteed, this is ample time to
establish and grow the team and it presents a significant international
opportunity for a coach to get involved with a growing sport in the UK as
the team look ahead to Rio qualification.
“Whilst the funding is important, also is working within the elite sporting
environment in Great Britain at this time. There is a great system, which is
driving success in a wide range of sports and we enjoy being part of that.
Only this week, I had a very useful meeting with the Head of Research and
Innovation at UK Sport, who has worked very closely with both British
Cycling and British Rowing in the recent past.
“We are looking to work from these types of sources of information and move
our programme along significantly. Fundamental to driving this programme,
will be the Head Coach, who will have access to a range of support services
in creating a strong overall programme.
“I believe we have the players capable and we are an emerging force in Water
Polo. Spain and China were in a similar position a few years ago and now
they are regular force to be reckoned with on the world stage. I believe we
have the talent within the senior team along with a developing pathway for
out talent programme.
“Significantly our juniors are competing in the U20s World Championships
this year, which is exactly the type of competition we want to be competing
in regularly.”
Paul Metz is the interim women’s head coach in the run up to and during the
World Championships in Barcelona this summer before a permanent replacement
will be recruited.
Thompson concluded by saying, “I have already received a number of
applications for the post to take us into Rio 2016. This doesn’t surprise me
as I do believe that we are on an upward trajectory, well funded and working
in an exciting period for British sport. However it will require hard work
and commitment but then all the most rewarding challenges in life do.”
This summer the British Gas GBR Women’s Water Polo Team will compete in
their first World Championships for 10 years.