The Swim Alliance, a coalition of over 20 organisations in the UK, has been formed to address critical challenges facing the swimming sector. This alliance aims to speak with a unified voice and collaborate on solutions to various issues affecting swimming in the country.
Key focus areas for the Swim Alliance include:
- Increasing swimming participation and learning rates for both adults and children
- Addressing the impact of high energy prices on public pools
- Promoting swimming as a health initiative
- Ensuring the safety and cleanliness of open water swimming areas
- Improving diversity in the sport
The alliance was initially convened by Sport England and includes a diverse range of members, such as leisure operators, national governing bodies, charities, and membership organisations. Debbie Kaye, former chair of the Chief Cultural & Leisure Officers Association (CLOA), has been elected as the chair of the Swim Alliance.
The formation of this alliance comes at a critical time, as the UK swimming sector faces multiple challenges:
- Declining numbers of children learning to swim
- Rising drowning incidents
- Potential closures of public swimming pools due to high energy costs and financial pressures on local authorities
- Increasing water pollution in coastal areas and rivers
The Swim Alliance aims to address these issues collectively, leveraging its members combined expertise and resources to achieve greater impact and ensure a better future for swimming in the UK.
Why not check out our swimming provider panel? On The Drive Phase, we gathered some of the largest swimming providers to discuss these issues and what they think the future will look like.
To find out more, see here.
