THE BRITISH water polo team has decided to do its pre-training in Ireland before the 2012 Olympics despite the fact that the games are in London.

The water polo team, who are one of the favourites for the gold medal, will spend two weeks at the National Aquatic Centre in July next year.

The team staged a game between Great Britain and Hungary, who are the perennial world power in the sport, in March this year and they were so impressed with the facilities that they decided to book it for Olympic training rather than any facility in the UK.

The team will be joined by the American synchronised swimming team and the British paralympic swimming team at the centre next summer.

The Government has been pressing hard to make Ireland a base for teams attending the 2012 Olympics in London with varying results.

It has set up an inter-agency committee within the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport to promote Irish involvement in the games.

Minister of State for Tourism and Sport Michael Ring, who chairs the committee, said: “The inter-agency committee will work right up to the Olympics. As well as seeking to attract national teams to train in Ireland, we are staging Irish cultural events in London, and promoting Ireland as a destination for Londoners hoping to escape the Olympics.”