Research we have conducted suggests that a parent’s insecurity around their own body image could prove to be a barrier to taking their children swimming. This fear of being seen in public in a bathing suit can result in their children having limited opportunities to learn a fantastic, fun, life-saving skill, that’s also ideal for keeping young people active, fit and healthy. In light of this, Everyone Active has implemented a swimwear policy in its swimming pools to help people feel more comfortable in this environment.
Modest Clothing
Having slightly altered its swimwear policy, Everyone Active has removed one of the limiting factors to parents taking their kids for a swim and is encouraging them to enjoy swimming any way they can.
We now allow swimmers to wear a number of more modest tight-fitting garments in the pool alongside more traditional swim wear. This includes the likes of long- and short-sleeved t-shirts, leggings and even swim dresses.
Adlington Approved Swimwear
This approach has been supported by double Olympic champion, Rebecca Adlington, who Everyone Active works in partnership with on the delivery of school swimming lessons. Together, they aim to ensure that all children leaving primary school meet the Key Stage 2 target of being able to swim at least 25m unaided and have experience of Water Safety.
Of the change in policy, Adlington commented: “As an athlete and a mother, I am so passionate about getting more children swimming regularly. Some of my best experiences have been through swimming, whether that was enjoying lessons as a child or competing in the Olympics..
“Thanks to the forward thinking of Everyone Active, we will now hopefully see even more young people having positive experiences in the pool, learning this essential life skill alongside family and friends.”
Halting the Decline
Making parents feel comfortable in the swimming pool environment is vital to ensuring that the decline in the number of children learning to swim is halted. Moreover, this change in clothing policy is just one of the several measures we are putting in place to help ensure that this worrying trend is reversed.
This new policy has been put into place at each of our 110+ swimming pools with immediate effect.