Panathlon continues to buck the trend when it comes to swimming in schools – in the wake of a special report produced by the Daily Telegraph that included some worrying figures.
The newspaper reported that swimming is “in crisis”, with more and more children arriving at secondary school unable to swim.
It ties in with 2024 statistics from Sport England that found that 30 per cent of children cannot swim 25 metres unaided when they leave primary school.
The Telegraph also reported that more than 400 public swimming pools have closed in the UK since 2010.
Panathlon is proud to say that our work looks to reduce this huge problem. In 2023/24, we ran 59 swimming events – up from 45 in the previous academic year.
These events reached 3,167 swimmers and 708 young leaders for a total of young people benefiting from our swim programme.
“Since Panathlon swimming was launched, we’ve had to expand our programme every year to cope with the demand to participate in our galas, evolving separate competitions for primary and secondary ages as well as impairment-specific events,” says Panathlon COO Tony Waymouth.
“In the last two years, we have diversified our offering even further in response to the pandemic, including the introduction of new ‘Primary Discovery’ and Secondary Hybrid galas to help address the decline in swimming participation due to Covid-19.
“We are proud of our ability to make water experiences relevant to the different ages and impairments and allow children to experience swimming as a life skill.”
Pentland Brands’ well-known swimwear brand, Speedo, has worked with Panathlon since 2018, helping to create opportunities for young people with additional needs to develop water skills and confidence through its swimming programme.
During that time, Speedo has extended that support to Panathlon’s multiskills programme for primary-age pupils across England and Wales, and has supplied thousands of its silicone swimming caps for participants.
At the end of 2024, Moor House were the champions at the National Panathlon Special Schools Swimming Final, with Hempsted School lifting the trophy at the National Panathlon Primary Swimming Final.
