AN ONLINE petition against proposed funding cuts to a training programme for Bradford’s top young swimmers has already gathered 750 signatures.

The Bradford Council development scheme is under threat in its current form due to budget cuts, and the authority has been in discussion with members of the clubs affected.

Now the City of Bradford Swimming Club, which is the competitive outlet for the coaching and training scheme, has set up a petition calling for the council to keep funding in place for young swimmers in the district.

As well as the 750 signatures to the change.org petition, there have also been dozens of comments, one of which appears to be from Keith Brownlee, the father of Olympic medal-winning triathletes Alistair and Jonny Brownlee, who also trained with the City of Bradford Swimming Club.

Mr Brownlee states: “My children benefited from COB swimming. I am a paediatrician and understand the importance of exercise on health and academic performance.

“I am concerned about the impact this proposal will have on inequalities.”

The council is considering “alternative delivery models” for the elite training of the district’s top young swimmers.

The City of Bradford club, which has about 60-70 members, provides the competitive swimming meets, but the training is provided directly by the council-run programme through coaches employed by the council.

David Alexander, chairman of COBSC, said: “There is still a long way to go and a lot of negotiation.

“We are trying to persuade the council to keep things going until the end of the season in June, then we could start up in whatever form in time for September.”

Phil Barker, the council’s assistant director for sport and leisure, said: “We believe the elite scheme could be efficiently run through a range of methods, but at this stage we are having discussions with the swimming clubs about our options.”