The Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) and Swimming Australia have held a Joint Management Committee meeting in Canberra, where top of the agenda was how to make sure that the money invested for London 2012 is used wisely.

The APC has invested a significant portion of the Federal Government's new High Performance funding into the sport.

Swimming is already one of the APC's highest funded and most successful sports and will now receive a further $550,000 (£360,000) per annum into its high performance programme.

With an increase in funding, it is expected that this, along with a range of other initiatives will yield a greater number of medals at the London Games in 2012.

"The APC has an excellent working partnership with Swimming Australia and with this new funding by the APC, it is expected that this will assist Swimming Australia in preparing one of the strongest Paralympic swimming squads Australia has ever sent to a Paralympic Games," said APC General Manager for Sport, Michael Hartung.

"At the high performance end of sport, success is measured on medals and results.

"Swimming is traditionally one of Australia's highest medalling and most successful sports, which is why the APC has invested significantly in supporting Swimming Australia to develop an even stronger swimming program for the future.

"There is enormous potential in our young female squad, who made some great improvements in Eindhoven and will be looking to build on this success at next year's Para Pan Pacs in Canada.

"The recent funding injection into the sport has provided a sound building block to ensure they reach their full potential in London 2012."

The funding boost will primarily be used to improve the daily training environment for targeted athletes on the Paralympic Preparation Program (PPP) and enhance the Paralympic Swimming Programme at the Australian Institute of Sport.

There are currently six Paralympic swimmers on full-time scholarship at the AIS as well as a full-time Paralympic coach.

Both organisations are working to increase the number of scholarships available as soon as January 2011.

"The improvements in the daily training environment will be driven by Swimming Australia's high performance unit in consultation with the home coaches of the targeted athletes," said Australian Swimming National Paralympic head coach Brendan Keogh (pictured).

"Swimming Australia is committed to working with each State Institute of Sport and State Academy of Sport to ensure that targeted Paralympic athletes receive support so they are training in their optimal environment."

Australia has a good performance record in swimming at the Paralympic Games, finishing seventh on the gold medal tally, thanks to Cowdrey, who won five titles, and sixth on the overall medal tally in Beijing.

Swimming Australia has set the bar high for future Paralympic Games, aiming to be the number one Paralympic swimming nation in the world by 2016.

A significant improvement in the number of medals won in 2012 will be a big step towards achieving this.

"In 2008, the Australian team competed in only 30 per cent of the entire racing programme," said Hartung.

"Work has commenced, in partnership with Swimming Australia to identify pathways and opportunities for athletes with lower classifications [more severe disabilities] to work their way up to representing Australia at a Paralympic Games in the future.

"To achieve a higher standing on the medal table, Australia must represent in a broader range of classes on the Paralympic programme."

Swimming Australia is likely to benefit from the Federal Government's recent sports participation funding announcement, through the expansion of the APC's world-class classification programme.

With a boost of $300,000 per year, the APC's classification programme will focus on increasing the number of lower classified athletes at the elite level.

The next benchmark event for Swimming Australia comes at the inaugural Para Pan Pacific Championships in Canada next year.