Water Polo: GB star’s task made harder by cutbacks

Jun 18 2009 by Alec Doyle, Chester Chronicle

FIONA McCann is focussed on Great Britain’s assault on water polo’s European Nations B Cup in Manchester next month.

But the London Olympic hopeful from Great Boughton has revealed how her sport is still struggling to cope with being one of those to receive a drastic budget cut from national funding body UK Sport.

“It is difficult,” she said. “I am a student and I may extend my studies into a Masters degree, but my team-mates have struggled to find jobs and those who have sometimes miss training sessions.”

Britain are expected to win the championships this time out, but McCann is worried that UK Sport’s decision to cut funding this year will make the task harder as they prepare for the 2012 Olympics.

The 22-year-old former City of Chester player appears alongside another Chester-born competitor, Hannah Wild, for Team GB and both want to represent the nation at the games.

“It is a vicious circle as we lost the funding because we were not winning, but we were improving,” said McCann.

“Cutting the funding has made it harder. But we all love the sport enough to make the sacrifices to train three times a day.”