Olympians swapped their swimsuits for Victorian dress during their visit to a St Albans leisure centre to celebrate 125 years of school swimming lessons.
Double Olympic gold medal winner Rebecca Adlington, former World Champion Mark Foster (pictured below) and 2004 bronze Olympic medallist Steve Parry gave a Victorian-style school swimming lesson yesterday at Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre to mark the occasion.
They were joined by 125 pupils from St Adrians Catholic Primary School, Park Street Primary School and St Peters School and Sports Minister Tracey Crouch.
While the athletes began the event in Victorian dress, they then changed into 2015 costumes to teach the lesson, which included sessions in speed swimming, water polo and synchronised swimming.
Mrs Adlington said: “The event has given the school children a very memorable swimming lesson as they got a sense of how Victorian children learned to swim, before learning a variety of new skills from some of Britain’s best athletes.
“Swimming is such a wonderful life skill and I think every child should have the chance to learn to swim, which is why I created my own Swim Stars programme in 2013.
"It is fantastic we are now working with Everyone Active – at Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre – to raise awareness of the importance of school swimming.”
Swimmers at yesterday's event.
The event was held in partnership with Rebecca Adlington’s SwimStars and the Amateur Swimming Association, and also coincided with the release of the ASA’s 2015 School Swimming Survey, which shows the current standard of primary school swimming.
The new figures suggest there is still a long way to go to improve school swimming lessons in England, with only 52 per cent of children aged between seven and 11 able to swim 25 metres unaided.
Mr Foster (pictured above) said: “Knowing that half the children leaving primary school can’t swim is worrying and we must do something about this.
“It’s been a great event to celebrate 125 years of school swimming but we must also remember there’s more to do.
“Schools have a role to play but I think parents must also take responsibility.
“Swimming is like a skill – one day your child might fall into water, you don’t want to risk them drowning.
“Or they may find themselves watching helplessly as someone else struggles in the water which would be awful.
“If you can swim, it could save your life or someone else’s one day.
“Parents are happy to pay for cinema tickets and popcorn – that money could buy a swimming lesson or session.
“It’s about prioritising.
“Parents are the biggest role models for young children and can have a big influence on them.”
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