The Australian Sports Commission is cutting 5.8 percent out of the national swimming program’s 2013-14 after their worst Olympic showing in two decades and a scandal involving banned sleeping pills and other “toxic incidents.”
The cuts are in-line with the ASC’s ten year Winning Edge plan, which aims to make Australia a top-five team at every Summer Games, top-15 at every Winter Games, and twenty annual world champions throughout all events.
“There will always be winners and losers under the new strategy but we fully support Winning Edge and its goals,” AOC chief John Coates said. “Sports are now more accountable and they are not only judged on performance, but governance.”
The swim team is still the most funded program, with $8.41 million, but will now be more carefully monitored by the AOC. The track and field budget also took a small hit of 3.8 percent, as sailing, canoeing, water polo, and the entire Paralympic team enjoyed large budget increases.
“Our investment decisions were based on a set of principles that assessed sports ability to provide sound evidence that they can contribute to the [Winning Edge] targets,” ASC chair John Wylie said.
“We have also asked that sports be more accountable for best practice governance and commercial performance under our investment approach.”
