The Sport England Lottery investment will be made to the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) via the community investment fund (CIF) set up to increase participation levels.
A development co-ordinator will be appointed at each of the nine pilot pools to manage the pilot and introduce participation-driven programmes with a focus on
marketing, partnership working and evaluation.
Roger Draper, chief executive of Sport England, said: "As we continue the drive to increase participation and improve the nation's health it will be key to share good practice across the sector and we will be looking at how the lessons learned from this pilot might be applied to other sports and might be used to leverage funding for similar projects from other sources."
Details of the pilot schemes are still to be agreed with the ASA but will target groups including those most likely to be inactive and at therefore at risk in health terms.
The ASA is said to be looking to leverage significant partnership funding for the project.
