Volvo Guy Swindells radio team sign up for 2008-09

by Volvo Ocean Race Press Office on 19 Aug 2008 The acclaimed voice of the Volvo Ocean Race, Guy Swindells, and his radio team have been signed up for the 2008-09 edition of the round-the-world ocean marathon which starts in Alicante in October.

This time Swindells and his business partner Glynn Cropper will be providing the service for the race through their new company, World Sports Communications (WSC).

They will be producing dedicated reports from the race course for interested radio stations across the world in six languages. The duo will be joined by multilingual reporter Amanda Blackley and a host of guest reporters.

As well as race reporting, the team will be present at the stopovers to provide production facilities for visiting radio stations locally, nationally and internationally.

It will be Swindells' third race providing radio coverage and Blackley'ssecond, giving the radio team a depth of knowledge that is first class.

As well as providing radio coverage, Swindells is also the MC for prize-giving ceremonies, press conferences, boat arrivals and departures. He has also threatened to sing in the Volvo Ocean Race Band again - though that does not form part of the race contract with WSC!

Swindells is excited about the challenge of the race ahead, with the new race track and stopovers in Asia for the first time. 'The great thing about the Volvo Ocean Race is that it constantly evolves, and you can never rest on your laurels. The fact that Amanda has been working at the America's Cup and TP-52 circuit since the last race, and now appears to know everyone in sailing will certainly keep me on my toes,' Swindells said.

'We are also involved with Volvo Ocean Race TV, which is great, and we will also get a chance to bring the race to a host of new markets, as well as building on our long-standing radio partners like the BBC World Service and Voice of America.'

As well as working on the Volvo Ocean Race, WSC have been contracted by the England and Wales Cricket Board to maximise cricket coverage on the radio in the UK, and also work with leading UK bank NatWest in providing a podcast diary with the England cricket coach, amongst other projects.

The Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 will be the 10th running of this ocean marathon. Starting from Alicante in Spain, on 4 October 2008, it will, for the first time, take in Cochin, India, Singapore and Qingdao, China before finishing in St Petersburg, Russia for the first time in the history of the race. Spanning some 37,000 nautical miles, visiting 11 ports over nine months

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