Friday, 14th May 2021
The startling figures have been published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Swimming and recognised by the national governing body Swim England, who are warning of a ‘lost generation’ of swimmers unless action is taken to halt the projected decline.
Even before the Coronavirus pandemic, around one in four children could not swim the statutory 25 metres when they left primary school – and it is feared that could rise to three in five children by the 2025-26 academic year.
A full report on the impact of Coronavirus on school swimming and water safety has been produced.
Pendle Leisure Trust’s Swimming Coordinator, Christine Britton, said: “When school swimming resumed on April 12th we noticed a big difference in the children. COVID has definitely had an impact and affected their confidence.
“Some were unnerved about getting back in the water and it did take us several weeks to build their confidence back up.
“We teach the children water safety as part of the national curriculum all year round and once a year the local fire brigade come to our centres for Water Safety Week – which we will be taking part in again next month.”
The chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Swimming, said they would be raising the matter with the Department for Education as a matter of urgency in a bid to prevent the projections becoming a reality.
She said: “Swimming and water safety is a vital life skill that every child should have and I passionately believe that all children should have the opportunity to learn these skills.
“Aside from the numerous health and well-being benefits of swimming, it is no exaggeration to say that learning how to swim and the importance of water safety, are skills that could one day save a life.”
The Chief Executive of Swim England acknowledged the pressures facing schools, but urged them to prioritise swimming and water safety lessons in a bid to improve the outcomes for their pupils.
She added: “These are particularly worrying predictions.
“These children are in urgent need of swimming lessons and general swimming participation or else we will see a huge knock-on effect to their ability that would continue into adulthood.
“It’s vital that pupils who have missed out on school swimming and water safety lessons because of the pandemic have the opportunity to catch up.
“We will offer all the support we can to help schools improve their school swimming and water safety attainment levels to prevent a lost generation of swimmers.”
Read the full report on the impact of Coronavirus on school swimming and water safety here.