swimming
Swim For Confidence
SWIM for Confidence supports individuals who may face barriers to participation, helping them to enjoy the physical, mental and social benefits associated with spending time in the water. Designed and delivered by social enterprise
Sport For Confidence, the programme is running at nine leisure centres across Essex and London delivering over 250 interventions a month. Carers, family or friends are encouraged to
also enter the water, free of charge, to support individuals in the pool. The sessions are run by an allied health professional and coach who assess the needs of the participant and ensure they receive the support needed to enjoy their session. “Support can mean physical help entering
and leaving the pool, a hand to hold in the water, maintenance of a quiet, calm environment or simply a presence to reassure those in the water that somebody is aware of their individual needs and is looking out for them,” says Jake Turner, operations manager at Sport for Confidence. “Many pools provide equipment to aid accessibility, but all too often these remain unused because those in need are not confident to request help using them. Our programme focuses on a more personal support service. This does require more resource and effort but the outcomes outweigh these many times over.” Prior to engagement in the programme,
the majority of participants were inactive and had never swum in a public facility. More than 90 per cent of first timers return for a repeat visit and most go on to enjoy a regular weekly session.
www.sportforconfidence.com
More variety key to keeping kids swimming
THE Institute of Swimming is helping operators to keep children in the pool long after they’ve learnt to swim, through the upskilling of teachers and the development of innovative and diverse aquatic programmes. “Leisure operators need to offer something to
a child that has completed their Swim England Learn to Swim programme but isn’t necessarily wanting to pursue club swimming. Our CPDs upskill swimming teachers to deliver a variety of fun sessions, such as aqua fitness, water polo, diving, dolphin snorkeler, synchronised and open water swimming and even mono-fin mermaid lessons,” says Rebecca Cox, managing director of the Institute of Swimming. The Institute of Swimming has been working
with BPL (Barnsley Premier Trust) to develop its swimming lesson exit pathway. In the last 12 months the trust has introduced 12 new diving
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classes a week, after completing Diving CPD across its aquatic workforce, with 96 children now taking part in the sessions. Following the success of the diving programme, staff have undergone CPD training in syncronised swimming and are in the process of introducing water polo, to further bridge the gap between learning to swim and adult swim sessions. “Our training and CPD provision enables teachers to deliver expert aquatic lessons, with a fun and varied content that young people will actually enjoy. A properly trained instructor will not only teach a child to swim, but will nurture a love of the water, which is critical in engaging people to be more active in water in the long term,” says Cox.
www.swimming.org/ios
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