Scottish Pool Star Makes Waves On Shetland
Swimming champion Hannah Miley is to visit Shetland later this month to celebrate the success of Scottish Swimming’s Learn to Swim Framework which teaches youngsters to be confident, safe and happy in water.
Multi-medal winner Hannah will join a group of local children on November 23 to mark Shetland Recreational Trust’s progress in delivering the Learn to Swim Framework.
Almost 900 youngsters are taking lessons as part of the programme, which has been developed by Scottish Swimming, supported by Scottish Water and delivered by aquatic providers across Scotland.
Learning to swim at a young age develops confidence and a love of swimming which helps children progress when they move on to learn basic swimming skills.
Hannah Miley, who has competed on the International swimming scene since 2005, becoming 400m IM Commonwealth Champion in 2010 and 2014 and represented Great Britain at three consecutive Olympic Games, will be showing the children some top techniques for learning to be a great swimmer and will take part in a Q&A session.
She said: “I learned to swim in Aviemore and my first club was Garioch ASC. It was the local club where I lived in Inverurie, and I took part in council lessons in the same pool Garioch trained in and so I joined from there.”
James Johnston of Shetland Recreational Trust, said: “The Trust has a long legacy of delivering swimming lessons but has strengthened its programme following the launch of Scottish Swimming’s National Learn to Swim Framework.
“Having Hannah Miley here and meeting the kids will be immensely inspiring for everyone connected with the programme.”
The Learn to Swim Framework is provided across eight pools on the Shetland Islands.
With an estimated 40% of children still unable to swim by the time they leave primary school, there has never been a more crucial time to roll out Scottish Swimming’s National Framework for Swimming in Scotland.
Forbes Dunlop, CEO of Scottish Swimming, said: “Introducing swimming at an early age brings a whole host of benefits for children, so Shetland Recreational Trust deserves high praise for taking such an impressive lead in encouraging so many children, and in particular pre-schoolers, to sign up.”
Brian Lironi, Director of Corporate Affairs for Scottish Water, said: “We’re incredibly proud to partner the Learn to Swim Framework as it’s so focused on encouraging children and young people to take up swimming, which as well as being fun, also builds confidence and safety around water.
“We are delighted to see the programme go from strength to strength even in the most northerly location in the UK.”
The Learn to Swim Framework helps to create quality Learn to Swim environments for children from birth upwards where they can become competent, confident and safe swimmers with opportunities to progress through the aquatic pathway and to swim for fun.
There are already more than 53,000 kids – including 5,600 pre-school children – who are on the programme and the target is to reach 100,000 children across Scotland by 2020.
The pools providing the Learn to Swim Framework are:
- Clickimin Leisure Complex (Lerwick)
- Unst Leisure Centre (Unst)
- Yell Leisure Centre (Yell)
- Whalsay Leisure Centre (Whalsay)
- North Mainland Leisure Centre (Brae)
- West Mainland Leisure Centre (Aith)
- Scalloway Pool (Scalloway)
- South Mainland Pool (Sandwick)
Please note - the Main Pool at Clickimin Leisure Complex will be closed from 10:30-12:30 on Friday 23 November in order to host this event. The Toddlers Pool and Health Suite will operate as normal. Spectators are welcome.