London 2012 Olympics: Sport England claim participation surge despite missing targets Swimming has shown the largest numerical decrease over the last four years with around 430,000 fewer participants. For a core Olympic sport to suffer such a decrease demonstrates that the Games are not a guarantor of increasing interest. Worryingly participation fell among 16-24 year-olds, precisely the age-group the Olympics was intended to inspire. New government policy is aimed at arresting the decline. The figures also confirm that the number of people doing sport three-times-a-week, which for most of the last four years was the government's primary Olympic legacy target, had increased by just 500,000 since 2008, just half of the one million target. Had the Coalition not abandoned the target earlier this year when it became clear it was going to be missed by a wide margin, Sport England's investment of £450m over four years might be judged a failure. The picture after the Olympics is likely to become bleaker, with Sport England chief executive Jennie Price admitting that she is planning for cuts to funding after the Olympics. "We realise like everybody else that this is a very difficult economic climate and we would be foolish to plan for any increases [in funding]," she said. No previous Olympics has delivered a participation increase and these figures demonstrate just how hard it is. Despite the increase in once-a-week participation, some of which can be put down to a milder winter, the figures reveal marginal increases, even with the hype and focus provided by London 2012. Price defended her organisation's performance said the Olympics had delivered an increase for those sports that prepared for it. "Our overall numbers are strong, and our numbers are up both in terms of actual participants and the trend so we are pleased," she said. There is evidence of growth in these numbers, but we would just like to see more of it. The Olympics were always an opportunity, never a guarantee. If you look at sports that have really thought about how they can capitalise on interest in the Olympics, such as hockey, then you can see an increase. There is evidence of an Olympic effect but only for sports that worked hard to secure it. Asked about the three-times-a-week target she said: "You would expect me to say this but the current government has decided to abandon that target. We have got 500,000 more people doing sport three-times a week, and there has been a 350,000 increase in the last six months so there is an upward trend. The date for judging the target is also 2013, not this year. But there is evidence of real growth in tough circumstances. Sport England will reveal how much money it intends to distribute to governing bodies in its next four-year cycle, from 2013-2017, in December. It will be increasingly reliant on Lottery funding in future, with 75 per cent of its income coming from that source. It is also expected to merge with high-performance agency UK Sport after the Olympics, a process already fraught with internal politics and friction.