Becky Adlington urges councils to close swimming gap

New figures showing significant gaps in children’s swimming ability have strengthened calls for local authorities, schools and leisure providers to work together to ensure more young people gain essential water safety skills.

Department for Education data highlighted by a recent BBC investigation found that 72% of Year 6 pupils in England could swim the recommended 25 metres.

With the cost and availability of lessons remaining potential barriers for families, the figures underline the role councils and their leisure partners can play in providing affordable and accessible swimming opportunities.

Olympic champion Becky Adlington has responded through her Swim! swim school network, making thousands of free lessons available to new customers. Speaking on Radio West Midlands, she called on councils to open dialogue for the benefit of anyone learning to swim. “We are a private company and councils do not have £10m-£25m for new pools,” she explained. “We would love for councils to contact us directly to come to their cities and towns. We should be working together.”