NEW OPENING
LIFE CENTRE PLYMOUTH
training base, at Plymouth Life Centre, with Olympic swimmers and divers from Lithuania, Canada, Mexico and Spain – a testament to the quality of sports and aquatic facilities readily available at the recently-opened centre of excellence. Looking beyond TeamGB’s success
T
at the London Games, TeamGB diving coach and Plymouth Life Centre Aquatics
his summer, TeamGB’s iconic div- ers Tom Daley, Tonia Crouch and Brooke Graddon found them- selves sharing their pre-Games
Plymouth has been enjoying its own piece of Olympic legacy since the Life Centre opened its doors earlier this year, with the centre’s sports facilities being used by Olympic athletes and the local community during this fantastic summer of sport. Dawn Tuckwell reports
director Andy Banks has already drawn four new 11-19 year old GB hopefuls for 2016 to train at the centre. He says: “Hav- ing visited many aquatic centres around the world, this new centre is as good as it gets and is already attracting elite young athletes to Plymouth. It’s perfectly placed so they can study at the Plymouth Uni- versity and train at the centre,” he says. “These athletes join London 2012
Lithuanian Olympic Gold medallist Rita Meilutyte, who continues to train with Plymouth Leander Swimming Club which uses the high performance centre for regular training sessions.”
ROBUST STRATEGY FOR SPORT However, elite athletes aren’t the only users making the most of the centre.
Team GB divers Tonia Couch and Tom Daley train at Plymouth
34 Read Sports Management online
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Inclusion and participation were at the heart of the centre’s philosophy from the outset of the project’s development and both continue to be major drivers now the centre is open. According to Plymouth contract man-
ager for SLM [as part of its Everyone Active brand] David Greenwood, the management staff are working hard to ensure that activities on offer cater for all ages and abilities. “The aim is to inspire people in Plymouth and the surrounding area to achieve life-long participation in sport and physical activity and work- ing closely with the national governing bodies of sport (NGBs) and local clubs is enabling us to offer the very best oppor- tunities to everyone,” he says. The elite diving opportunities at the
centre are a good example of this philos- ophy in action – additional diving taster sessions were offered whenever pos- sible throughout August and were all full
Issue 4 2012 © cybertrek 2012
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