OPERATOR PERSPECTIVE
OPERATOR PERSPECTIVE
Adults attending swim lessons have a wide range of goals, from effective lane swimming to bringing grandkids to the pool
GLL’s intensive new schools programme runs for 10 hours over the course of two weeks and “children are learning better”
“School swimming is seeing a big drop-off in traditional leisure centres as school budgets are stretched,” confirms Clark. “Yet the one sport schools aren’t allowed to spend sport premium funding on is the one sport that’s a national curriculum subject – swimming. “We’re seeing a growth in PE providers delivering on-site swimming at schools, using temporary pools in marquees on the playground – the sort of 5m- to 7m-long structures you might expect to see in someone’s garden in the summer. In some areas of aquatic deprivation this serves a purpose, but this set-up is spreading across the UK and simply doesn’t deliver the right experience or cater adequately for the hundreds of children involved.
GLL is positioning its pools around health and water safety. ‘Leisure’ feels like a choice. ‘Health’ feels essential.
If we deliver school swimming effectively, we also address social inequality and diversity
“GLL is therefore working hard on its schools programme and has created an intensive 10-hour programme over the course of two weeks. Schools obviously have to fit their academic lessons around it, but it’s proving not only a more cost-efficient way of delivering learn-to-swim, but also a more effective one. Children are learning better and their fitness levels are rising too. Already, 70 per cent of schools in our estate have embraced it. “We believe it’s hugely important that we get school swimming right. Our own research shows swimming to be the life skill that parents most want their children to learn. Not only that, but if we deliver school swimming effectively, we also deliver on so many other important requirements in the process: addressing social inequality, diversity and so on.” He adds: “In fact, GLL is now positioning its pools around health and water safety. ‘Leisure’ feels like a choice. ‘Health’ feels essential. We want to talk about our products through this lens, showcasing the physical, mental and social health benefits of swimming. “We’re already working with partners to deliver health programming for dementia and diabetes, for example. We want our pools to become venues for GP referral in the same way as gyms.”
“For example, a swim club might currently hire all six lanes of a pool, but if the data shows this space could be used more efficiently, we can reallocate some space to the public and reduce the cost to the club. “In the longer term, the system may also provide customers with useful data. If everyone had a unique identifier, we could potentially provide individual tracking data without the use of a wearable – although in fact, most adult swimmers now use a fitness tracker in the pool. “We’re also seeing more adults in learn-to-swim programmes than ever, which we deliver like mixed- ability group exercise classes: drop in as you wish or do a course, the choice is yours. There’s real diversity in what people want to achieve, with most having a clear goal that’s often linked to their fitness training – they want to be more effective in their lane swimming or do a triathlon – although some simply want to be able to take their grandkids swimming.
“Our children’s swim lessons are also working well. Structuring them into three levels rather than the traditional 10 has served us well in dealing with the post-COVID boom as it’s worked its way through the pipeline. We didn’t have to scale up massively and then scale back again. “We’ve also reintroduced our Swim School Guarantee, committing to teaching children for free if they don’t reach national targets through our learn-to-swim programme.” School swimming crisis Clark then points to Sport England’s Active Lives survey, which found that during the academic year 2022-23, more than one-third of primary schools provided fewer than 10 swimming lessons per pupil. This contributed to a 6 per cent drop in the proportion of children being able to swim 25m by year 7, compared to 2017/18 data.
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STATE OF THE UK FITNESS INDUSTRY REPORT 2023 STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2024
STATE OF THE UK FITNESS INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
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STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2024
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