P_200899storypic

Posted: 01 Jul 2010 | Channels:

Former Olympians Descend On Coventry To Mark 10,000th Child Taught To Swim Through Life Saving Initiative

Former Olympians Steve Parry, Mark Foster, and Coventry’s own Dave Moorcroft are at the Coventry AT7 Centre to celebrate the 10,000th child learning to swim through a pioneering new initiative.

Pools 4 Schools takes swimming pools to areas around the UK that lack easy access to swimming facilities. The pool is open for 6 -8 weeks and provides local school children with swimming lessons, and is also available for use by the local community. Many of the children come from diverse backgrounds, communities and lifestyles – some of who never had been even been in a swimming pool prior to the Pools 4 Schools programme. The swimming lessons provided by British Gas Pools 4 Schools aim to help school children achieve the National Curriculum target of teaching school children to swim 25m unaided and is a highly effective solution to school swimming.

160 schools and 100,000 swimming lessons later, former Olympians today announce the 10,000th child to pass through their initiative. The ambitious goal to teach 10,000 children across the UK to swim came from Olympians Steve Parry and Adrian Turner, following the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. After their Olympic experiences, both Steve and Adrian recognised that their passion for and love of swimming came from great coaches and swimming teachers.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

JEREMY.DRAKE@TVCGROUP.COM 0207 535 5800 | 07535 705 253
ANNETTE.HARADA@TVCGROUP.COM 0207 535 5800 | 07970 312 002
KIRSTY.MACLEOD@TVCGROUP.COM 0207 535 5800 | 07765 481 358