By Tom Degun

May 3 - ParalympicsGB chairman Tim Reddish (pictured) will take up the newly created role of executive director for British Disability Swimming and will support the sport as it prepares for London 2012 and beyond, it has been announced.



Having vacated his role as national performance director for British Disability Swimming, Reddish begins his new role within the organisation this month and will work to place British Swimming in a strong position with the Paralympic Movement both nationally and internationally. 

The appointment follows an in-depth analysis of the British Swimming Disability Programme and is part of a strategic restructure to help meet the challenge of the London 2012 Paralympics while looking beyond to 2016.

Reddish, who competed in three Paralympics between Barcelona in 1992 and Sydney in 2000 and won a total of five medals, took up his role as national performance director in 2003 and since then, British Disability Swimming has consistently been one of the best nations in the world.  

Britain 52 medals at Athens in 2004, more than any other nation in the pool, and Reddish was shortlisted for the BBC’s Coach of the Year Award in 2004 in recognition of his contribution to that success.

Reddish was appointed as chairman for ParalympicsGB in November 2008 and he will now use his knowledge and experience to provide strategic guidance for the programme going forward. 

He said: "This is a new role within our sport and there will be a lot of things in the coming months that we all need to get our heads around but I am excited to add a new dimension in leadership to our sport.

"The new role will help move the sport forward as we look to the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics and beyond.

"I have been involved with the sport for 13 years and I have seen and helped it grow into the best programme in the world.

"To continue to be the best in the world we need to continue to grow and develop and our new appointments will help us to improve the programme further. 

"With John [Atkinson] taking up the role of national performance director we will work closely to bounce ideas off each other and this will help shape the sport for where we want to be in 2016 and beyond."

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