Olympian Becky Adlington enjoys day of fun as she opens new Sandwell swimming centre
It was a busy, fun and amazing day for a double Olympic gold medallist and youngsters from across Sandwell at the opening of a new swimming centre.
Becky Adlington joined dozens of children in opening the new, state-of-the-art Swim! centre in Oldbury on Monday, the newest in the chain of centres owned by Becky and fellow Olympians Steve Parry and Adrian Turner.
The centre on Birchley Island Retail Park, adjacent to M5 Junction 2, will offer tailored and unique swimming lessons for children aged between 0 and 11, with fun warm-up sessions and dedicated teachers helping them to learn a life skill.
Becky said the opening day had been a brilliant experience for everyone involved and said it came from her continuing passion for swimming.
She said: "It's amazing to be open and the staff got to bring in their children this afternoon before the lessons properly started, which was really nice for those guys.
"The babies absolutely loved it this morning and the parents came in and gave us some feedback, saying that the centre was fab, so it's really nice to get underway with some proper lessons.
"My business partners and I love swimming and we all have a massive passion for it and what we want to do is cater for everyone and this isn't an Olympic programme, but about a life skill in a fun way that gives the kids as much confidence as possible."
Becky said that it was especially important to be able to open up the centre in a more deprived area as more than 150 pools had closed since the Covid pandemic.
She also said that the 2022 Commonwealth Games had been a great way to inspire youngsters to take up sports such as swimming and said she wished she'd had something like this when she was learning to swim.
She said: "I remember walking through that horrible foot bath and it was just plasters and the generation of lessons jumping in after a black brick.
"Don't get me wrong, it served me really well, but it's actually a lot more fun now and all the activities we do here are about the fun element, from activities to confidence and life skills.
"We'd definitely love it if, five to 10 years later, if kids at the Olympics said 'Oh yeah, I started learning at Swim!', and it would be amazing, but just knowing they're safe in the water is enough."
To find out more, go to swim.co.uk.
