Former Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington OBE has launched a £1m fund to help schoolchildren in Nottinghamshire have access to swimming pools. The Olympic medallist, from Mansfield, is launching the lifeline for schools, after data showed that one in three children leave primary school unable to swim 25 metres.
She fears this number will be much higher due to the rising trend for school pool closures. That's why she is launching The Movement Project - an initiative from Total Swimming Academies and Vivify Venues - which is offering schools in Nottinghamshire a £1million investment fund to help them remain open.
Ms Adlington, who won two Olympic gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, told Nottinghamshire Live: "I grew up in Mansfield using Beechdale Baths - which is long gone now. It's great having that big, shiny new pool but actually the community needs those smaller, less fancy pools as well.
