Olympian Alice Dearing praised the role that The National Lottery has played in building past, present and future sporting stars.

The marathon swimmer, who competed at Tokyo 2020, was speaking at Olympic champion Matt Richards’ former swimming club, Worcester Swimming Club.

Richards is set to compete in his first individual final this evening in the men’s 200m freestyle having started out at his community club.

“We want to spread the word of what The National Lottery do both in terms of the elite end of sport as well as at grassroots level,” Dearing said.

“So athletes like myself and Matt, get incredible funding which allows us to compete at sport, compete at the top level, get to the Olympic Games and go on and win gold medals.

“We can do that without having to worry about having a part-time job, or another career alongside of it which I know a lot of athletes have had to manage in the past.

“Athletes from other countries in the present are also having to manage that as they don’t get the same support.

“But then also, what it does for the grassroots where £30 million a week goes to good causes, including sport and other areas of life to help make a positive impact for so many people up and down the country.”

Also speaking in Worcester was Mark Stowe, the head coach at the club, who also guided Richards between the ages of 10 and 13.

Richards progressed from his local club Droitwich to Worcester before moving on to Royal Wolverhampton School, where Dearing had also trained.

Stowe explained the role that grassroots clubs like his have played in building stars across the country, with support from The National Lottery.

He said: “The grassroots are absolutely fundamental, without clubs like Worcester and thousands of similar clubs there would be no Olympians.

“This is where they learn to swim and then they join their local swim club and it is here where they hopefully develop their love of swimming.

“They learn the skills that they are going to need when they compete at a higher level.

“Community clubs are where everything begins in the support of swimming, they are invaluable, it is vital that every youngster in the country has access to a local community swimming club in a wonderful facility where they can learn what it means to be a swimmer.”

Thanks to National Lottery players our Olympic athletes are supported to live their dreams and make the nation proud. With more than £30M a week raised for Good Causes, The National Lottery has enabled Great Britain to become a global force in Aquatics and has provided more opportunities for people inspired by athletes like Matt to take part in the sport. For details visit www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk