British Swimming has announced the appointments of Chris Spice as national performance director and Bill Furniss as head coach. Spice joins from British Basketball, having previously worked with the Rugby Football Union and Great Britain and England Hockey. Furniss, best known for coaching Rebecca Adlington to Olympic success, steps into the role after Dennis Pursley returned to the United States.
The appointments come after a post-Games review into Great Britain's below-par performance at London 2012, where the team won only three medals. Former performance director Michael Scott resigned after the review stipulated he must be based full-time in Britain rather than splitting time with his family in Australia.
Furniss and Spice will start their roles in April, with the world trials scheduled for June. Spice will provide overall strategic leadership, while Furniss will focus on poolside coaching and developing performance plans for athletes. The pair will lead the team to the World Championships in Barcelona this summer without Adlington, who is expected to announce her retirement.
Spice said: 'One of the key things that attracted me to the position is the great potential I see within swimming. I believe we can build for an exciting future.' Furniss added: 'I'm looking forward to working with Chris and what I know to be both world-class coaches and athletes as we strive to deliver podium results in Rio 2016.'
