A popular school swimming programme needs to fill a $25,000 hole in its funding.
Sport Otago chief executive John Brimble said the demise of the Sport New Zealand Kiwisport fund had caused the shortfall for the Dunedin City Schools To Swim programme.
The city council provides funding of $30,000 and schools contribute a further $2 per participant towards the cost.
Sport Otago was requesting the council to either increase its contribution by $25,000, or to waive pool entry fees for Schools To Swim.
The programme was the one of most successful of its kind in New Zealand and 89.4% of children had achieved the programme outcomes compared to a national average of 22%, Mr Brimble said.
