SINGAPORE — The Singapore Swimming Association (SSA) have secured a three-year sponsorship deal with Yakult Singapore worth S$350,000.

The partnership, understood to be the largest fully cash sponsorship from a single company by the SSA, will go towards covering the costs of overseas competitions and training by the association’s national athletes in swimming, diving, water polo and synchronised swimming.

Yakult Singapore will remain as presenting sponsor of the Singapore-leg of the FINA World Cup until 2017, and will also be a sponsor for selected local meets organised by the SSA.

Yakult has been a sponsor of the FINA World Cup Singapore series since 2009, and was the presenting sponsor of the event last year which was held for the first time at the Singapore Sports Hub’s OCBC Aquatic Centre.

Ahead of last June’s South-east Asian Swimming Championships, the SSA announced a $800,000 sponsorship - in cash and kind - from German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen, swimwear brand TYR, and Yakult. 

“This partnership with Yakult is the first of many which we hope to announce over the next few months as we ramp up towards what will be an exciting year for Singapore swimming, Singapore sports, and for Singapore,” said SSA vice-president (finance) Jose Raymond.

“Commercial partners and sponsors play an integral part in the development of sports in Singapore and in particular, the sustainable development of National Sports Associations. The SSA will continue to look for more creative opportunities to work with commercial partners, and we do hope that more businesses and companies find it commercially valuable with working with the SSA.”

Shunichi Uekusa, Yakult Singapore’s managing director, added: “We hope that this partnership will be fruitful and work well in its goal to develop swimming in Singapore.”