Olympic diver attends swim gala at South Woodham Ferrers Leisure Centre
Retired international British diver, Sarah Barrow, was at South Woodham Ferrers Leisure Centre (SWFLC) to present awards to participants of the centre’s summer intensive swim programme.
40 children took part in the 8-week intensive swim course, which was part-funded by Swim England’s Club Links Programme and delivered in partnership with Woodham Ferrers Swimming Club.
Celebratory swim gala
After 7 weeks of lessons, the course came to a close with a competitive gala to celebrate the students’ achievements and showcase their hard work to their parents.
During the gala, children competed in teams to win the title of ‘Club Links Champions’. All students were given a certificate and medal for participation, with extra medals for the day’s winners!
Sarah Barrow attended the gala in her role as Club and Community Development Lead for Swim England. During her diving career, Sarah won 10m Platform gold at the European Championships in 2014, won bronze twice at FINA World Cup for 10m Synchro bronze with Tonia Couch, and represented Great Britain at two Olympic Games.
The now retired diver gave a speech ahead of presenting the medals, sharing how attending swimming lessons, just like those at SWFLC, eventually lead her to the Olympics. As you’d expect, this news served as great inspiration for the participants to keep up their swimming!
““Swimming is a life skill, a fantastic way to keep fit and healthy, and a sport you can choose to progress to competition. It can even take you into other aquatic disciplines, like water polo, artistic swimming or diving, like me.
Sarah Barrow, Club and Community Development Lead (East & London Regions), Swim England
“Trying something new, building confidence and keeping active is super important – but the main thing is to make sure that you're having fun. The best thing that came out of my swimming career for me was my friendships. I took up the sport when I was 12, and I have life-long friends still.
“We do see that young swimmers tend to drop out of the sport around the ages of 13 to 14, particularly girls, so Swim England are keen to help support retainment as much as we can. How clubs do that, I think, is to make sure that there's a fun and participation element in what they do – days like this being a great example.”
Club Links sponsorship from Swim England
Swim England’s Club Links Programme is designed to bring leisure centres and swimming clubs together, to help bridge the gap between swimming lessons and competitive or club swimming.
Swimmers tend to drop out of the sport in their early teens, which is around the time they would typically transition from centre lessons (also known as swim schools) into clubs. That’s where Club Links comes in. To receive funding, centres are required to run sessions with at least one local club, helping to build connections and encourage clubs and centres to work in tandem to provide the best opportunities for young swimmers.
This intensive course was exclusive to SWFLC swim school students and created the opportunity for them to meet and train with local club coaches from Woodham Ferrers Swimming Club, alongside their teachers from the centre.
Councillor Jennie Large, Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure, says this course is a great example of the positive role leisure centres can play in our communities:
““Our leisure centres play a key role in the health and wellbeing of our residents. Having access to facilities that can provide a life skill like swimming is hugely important and, thanks to the insight and support of Swim England, we’re able to encourage swimmers to go beyond the basics and actively pursue swimming as a competitive sport.
Cllr Jennie Large, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure
“Working with local clubs, like Woodham Ferrers Swimming Club, is an example of how partnership working can effectively deliver the best opportunities for our residents. Thank you to all the coaches and to the swim school teachers at South Woodham Ferrers Leisure Centre for delivering such a fantastic course!”
What it meant to the students
The intensive course was mostly for stages 6 and 7, but all SWFLC swim school students were invited to join, which meant there was a wide range of levels and ages taking part.
Emily Schofield, whose 8-year-old daughter took part, said the course was a great way to bridge the gap between SWFLC swim school and competitive swimming:
““She really enjoys going to swimming lessons at South Woodham Ferrers Leisure Centre and we thought an extensive programme to learn more about swimming on a competitive level and on a skills level would be great experience for her – and us as parents, to see what competitive swimming was all about.
Emily Schofield
“Seeing your child excel at a sport and, just to experience seeing her progress at in the skill of swimming, it's been a great experience for us as well as for her.”
All students were given a certificate and medal for participation, with extra medals for gala winners.
More information
Hopefully, the intensive course will be back at SWFLC next summer. But, in the meantime, the centre runs swimming lessons throughout the year:
Discovery Ducklings swim school - for ages four months to three years
Ducklings swim school - for children aged 3 and 4
Stages 1 to 10 swim school - for children aged 5 to 15
Each stage has a different aim and set of skills that students will develop through 30 minute weekly lessons. As children improve and become more confident, they will move up to the next stage.
Learn more about swim schools at SWFLC and Riverside Leisure Centre here: https://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/swim-school/.
Adult swimming lessons are also available.
You can learn more about Woodham Ferrers Swimming Club on their website: https://woodhamferrersswimmingclub.co.uk/home.
