Hollis Sponsorship Bulletin

British Gas has been unveiled as title sponsor of the Great Swim series. The deal gives BG title sponsorship of a series of four one mile open-water swims taking place this summer in London, Scotland, The Lake District and Suffolk. 

Organisers expect 10,000 swimmers of all abilities to take part in the events which will be televised on Channel 4 in late September. The festival builds on last year’s debut Great Swim at Lake Windermere – which was an immediate hit with swimmers. After just one year in operation, it was voted as the fifth best open-water swim in the world. 

The British Gas sponsorship is part of a broad strategic link with swimming. Recently, it pledged £15 million towards a six year partnership with governing body British Swimming. It has also set itself the target of getting 10,000 non-swimmers into a swimming pool within a year. 

Commenting on the latest announcement, Rick Vlemmicks, director of marketing at British Gas, said: “At British Gas, we know that swimming is important to our customers as well as the nation. We are passionate about driving participation and believe swimming should be open to all, from World Champions to recreational swimmers to kids learning to swim in schools. Events like the Great Swim series will play an important role in supporting our Paddling Pool to Podium vision for swimming in Britain.” 

The Great Swim Series is being organised by Brendan Foster’s Nova International, the company’s which also manages mass participation running programme the Great Run. In the last year, the company has branched out into different sports looking at new opportunities and new audiences.

Cereal giant Kellogg’s unveiled a new three-year sponsorship deal with UK swimming this week – taking its commitment to the sport to an impressive 25 years. All told it will spend £3 million – with a great deal of emphasis placed on elite athletes in the run up to London 2012.

As part of its new framework, the company has created Team Kellogg’s. This will consist of four of the UK’s top aquatic athletes: swimmer Cassie Patten, diver Nick Robinson Baker, Paralympian Sam Hynd and synchronised swimmer Olivia Allison The four will all receive support as they attempt to win medals during London 2012. In return for this support, they will be expected to act as mentors for 12 younger athletes in pool-based disciplines.

In addition to unveiling Team Kellogg’s, the company also said it would be continuing with Swim Active, a scheme which seeks to make swimming more accessible to certain sub-groups within the community. Commenting on the new deal, British Swimming chief executive David Sparkes said: “Kellogg’s have played an important part in our sport for many years, working with us to encourage, develop and reward swimmers of all ages and backgrounds.”

Bruce Learner, corporate responsibility manager at Kellogg’s said: “Our new investment will help the sport go from strength to strength by benefitting swimmers of all ages and abilities as well as encouraging non-swimmers to take the plunge. Swimming is still the UK’s number one participation activity – and we hope our £3m investment means that will be case for years to come.” 

Find more details at http://www.britishswimming.org/

As London gears up to host the 2012 Olympics, energy company British Gas has decided to take the plunge with governing body British Swimming. A £15 million sponsorship deal will see British Gas try to ride the wave of popularity and success that is being enjoyed by British swimmers after their medal-winning exploits in Beijing.

The £15  million deal represents a six-year commitment by British Gas and will involve investment from grass roots swimming right through to the elite level. It also covers others pool-based activities such as water polo and diving.

British Gas is hoping to benefit from the media attention being paid to Beijing heroes like Gold medal winner Rebecca Adlington. However it is also allocating a lot of its budget to community-based commitments. One of the most interesting aspects of the deal is that British Gas will work with British Swimming to try and slow down the rate at which local pools are being closed. It will also support schemes designed to increase children’s participation in swimming.