SWIMMING RECREATING

Three former Olympians have teamed up with a simple mission – to get more children swimming. Tom Walker speaks to Becky Adlington, Steve Parry and Adrian Turner and discovers how their venture could transform the way swimming pools and leisure centres are built in the UK

Since calling time on their elite swimming careers, three former Olympians – Steve Parry, Becky Adlington and Adrian Turner – have been busy working in grassroots swimming. The trio share a passionate belief: that every child should have the opportunity to learn and enjoy swimming. Having retired from competitive swimming in 2005, Parry and Turner set up Total Swimming Group, which initially specialised in learn to swim sessions. In addition to swimming teaching and getting involved in campaigns such as Get Safe for Summer – run by Swim England – the company came up with an innovative concept. They began installing mobile (or temporary), swimming pools into local schools, often in sports halls, in a bid to help children learn to swim and understand water safety.

The concept led to one of Total Swimming’s most high-profile early projects, the delivery of the highly successful Pools 4 Schools programme. The initiative, sponsored by British Gas, saw temporary swimming pools being installed across England and enabled tens of thousands of children to learn to swim. Its success led the campaign to being recognised, in 2013, by then Prime Minister David Cameron with a Big Society Award.

“The focus of the Pools 4 Schools programme was to help young people achieve the National Curriculum target of swimming 25m and to understand water safety,” Parry recalls. “The results were excellent. Less than 20 per cent of children in some schools had previously met targets, but after one half term of lessons, 84 per cent in one year group achieved them.”

We built the pools in playgrounds, parks, in sports halls – everywhere we could

Turner says the idea to use temporary pools came from their experiences as high-performance athletes. “As elite swimmers, we’d been spoiled by the venues we had the privilege of swimming at – such as the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, the Manchester Arena and a number of other major venues that had temporary pools installed in them,” Turner explains.

“We wanted to take the concept – having amazing, above-ground tanks – and deliver the same experience for children. From there, the British Gas Pools for Schools and “Make a Splash” programme were born.”

Make a Splash was one of the Mayor of London’s flagship sports legacy programmes and brought mobile swimming pools to locations across London for 12 weeks at a time. The project was designed to increase participation in sport and physical activity and tackle social issues by locating the pools where they were most needed – such as schools and community sites. It was delivered in partnership with Swim England and Thames Water and brought temporary pools to more than 40 venues across London.

“We built the pools in playgrounds, parks, in sports halls – everywhere we could,” Turner says. “In total, we taught around 60,000 children to swim in Pools for Schools.”

ADDING TO THE TEAM

The innovative way that Total Swimming was providing opportunities for children was widely recognised across the aquatics sector. Those impressed with the company’s work included double-Olympic champion Becky Adlington who, shortly after London 2012 Olympic Games, was also looking to retire and work in grassroots.

“After London 2012, I really wanted to get involved in learn to swim programmes,” Adlington says. “I knew there wasn’t anyone better in the industry than Steve and Adrian, so I got in touch, we had a meeting and we decided to work together.”

As a result of that meeting, Adlington joined the business. Shortly after, in 2013, the company launched Becky Adlington Swimstars. Designed for 3-11 year olds, the programme teaches children to swim with an emphasis on fun and water safety. It ran in tandem with Total Swimming’s “own-branded” Total Swimming Academies, which also focused on 3-11 year-olds.

OPERATIONS MODE

It was the success of – and increasing interest in – the temporary pools that led the trio to become facility operators themselves.

“The pools were designed to be temporary, but everywhere we built them, we had councils, schools and any other organisations that we worked with, starting to ask us whether we could build them to be more durable so they could last longer,” Turner says.

“Looking back, I don’t blame them. In fact, it was a bit sadistic what we did, building these amazing, safe and fun pools which children and communities fell in love with – and then we had to take them away. Also, we realised quickly that it simply wasn’t financially sustainable putting up these temporary pools. For each one we needed to secure separate funding. That’s when we started exploring whether we could make the pools permanent.”

As a result of the demand for pools that would stay in place longer, Total Swimming came up with a new business plan – to start operating its own facilities. It does this in two different ways under two different brands. Under the Swim! brand, the company designs and builds its own pools, then operates them as welcoming, family-friendly spaces. Each Swim! site is located in an existing building – often in business parks or industrial estates. Turner says that the emphasis of Swim! facilities is very much what is inside of them. Each Swim! Venue looks to create warm, air-conditioned spaces which are inviting and safe for kids. They also offer good coffee and USB ports – in other words, charging stations for both parents and their devices.

“From a design and construction perspective, most have a simple, steel-portal frame, so they are crinkly metal buildings,” Turner says. “For our Swim! sites, it doesn’t really matter what they look like from the outside. Our focus is to make them warm, safe and inviting on the inside.”

Perhaps the main difference, however, is in the way the pool itself is constructed. “Each pool is above ground,” Turner says. “We then build everything around it - from the changing rooms to the viewing areas. We’ve learnt how to build lasting pools above ground over the years, which makes them considerably cheaper than digging a huge hole and building the pool that way. From a design point of view, we also recognise that the changing rooms are a big part of the experience for many. We aim to create a premium experience – which is pretty much the opposite you get at many of the ageing leisure centres and their changing villages around the country.

After London 2012, I really wanted to get involved in learn to swim programmes

The Swim! business sits alongside Total Swimming’s purely operator business, called Swim@, which utilises existing pools. The plan is ambitious - to build 100 Swim! facilities within the next 10 years.

“We’ve so far built 12 swimming centres which we designed, built, own and operate ourselves,” Parry adds. “So we’re only just getting started. We work with pool owners – such as schools – and we refurbish it, pay rent to operate it and, in exchange, look to secure a medium-term contract, say five- years, to then deliver swimming lessons at the site.

“The service we deliver at Swim@ sites is pretty much exactly the same as the ones at the sites we’ve designed and built ourselves. The emphasis is on creating warm, safe and inviting spaces where entire families can come and learn to swim.”

In 2022, health club operator, JD Gyms Group, acquired a majority stake in Swim! to help drive the growth of the business. In October 2024, however, the Olympians successfully completed a management buyout in a deal which also saw JD Gyms Group’s Chief Operating Officer, Amelia Worrall, become MD of Swim!.

KEEPING IT SIMPLE

The success of the temporary pools has also led to the launch of perhaps the most ambitious part of Total Swimming Group – ReCreation. Utilising the cost savings achieved by building swimming pools above ground, ReCreation’s USP is to design and deliver full- service leisure centres at a considerably lower price.

The pools we build are much faster to build, are more affordable and more environmentally friendly

It is widely accepted that the usual cost for a leisure facility with a 25m, six-lane swimming pool, a gym, exercise studios, changing rooms and other associated amenities ranges between £18m and £25m. ReCreation, however, promises to deliver exactly the same services at less than half of that – between £8 and £10m.

The cost-savings, Turner says, are achieved by a combination of the innovative pool designs and a laser-focus on sustainability by keeping things simple – by “only specifying what is needed by the local community”.

“When it comes to pool design, in the UK we have something of a Victorian hangover, which in turn probably comes from Roman times,” Turner says. “For decades, we’ve been obsessed with digging large cavities in the ground, pouring concrete into them for days on end and creating pools that way.

“The thing is, it’s a very energy-consumptive, toxic and cumbersome way of going about things – not to mention expensive. The pools we build are much faster to build, are more affordable, more environmentally friendly, use exactly the same plant as an in-ground pool and, as an added plus, you can access all the pipework when it’s finished – so it’s easier to maintain.

“We also don’t want to automatically use Tier 1 contractors – who carry larger overheads – for our projects, because we aren’t building £25m facilities. For us, selecting the right contractors is key to not only keeping costs down, but to ensure the job is done by a specialist.

“Put simply, what we offer through ReCreation is a faster, better solution which offers the same outcomes – if not better – as the traditional pools we see around the country.”

SCALING UP

Turner highlights the example of a four-lane, 50m pool ReCreation built in the London Borough of Barking. The £2.5m facility is a community facility, but also attracts elite athletes – two of the Paralympians from Paris 2024 train at the venue.

“It only took us 11 months to build,” Turner says. “As a facility, it does exactly what a traditional 50m pool would do. It is a tile-edged pool, it has Olympic- standard starting blocks and the lane ropes and air- handling unit are the same as any other Olympic pool.”

“In fact, it was Barking that led us to look seriously at leisure centres,” Turner reveals, referencing discussions that it had with Everyone Active, which operates the Barking site.

“The Barking pool’s design included a district heating network, which means that it provides heat and power to 250 local homes. Everyone Active asked whether we could, if needed, replace that with a gym area.

“Our response was ‘of course’, the space could be filled with whatever is needed. That then led us getting involved – and ultimately designing and delivering – the Rainham Leisure Centre in Havering, Essex.”

Operated by Everyone Active and owned by Havering Borough Council, Rainham Leisure Centre features a 25m, six-lane pool, a 75-station gym, group fitness studio, an indoor cycling studio and a café. It replaced a distressed leisure centre built in the 1970s that was no longer fit for purpose and costing hundreds of thousands of pounds per year to operate.

“We fulfilled Havering council’s brief exactly as desired,” Parry says. “The facility was to be built on a green space and was therefore designed to be ‘part of the park, not on the park’. We did this by building up the ground to the main entrance, incorporating new outdoor adult activity equipment, a new playground and even a new orchard to the north of the site.

“To help the local wildlife and achieve biodiversity net gain, we also added an orchard with 40 fruit trees and swift boxes into the brickwork itself to form homes for nesting birds. As a result the building achieved a BREEAM Excellent award.”

MAKING THINGS BETTER

The total cost of the Rainham Leisure Centre was around £8m – but, according to Turner, houses everything that a “typical” £25m facility would do. The successful delivery of the facility has led to huge interest from other local authorities and ReCreation is currently working on its next project, in Staffordshire. “We’re now on site at Lichfield Leisure Centre which will feature a six-lane 25m pool, an 80-station gym, indoor cycling studio, yoga studio and community space,” Turner says.

“It’s also got outdoor facilities – including a full-size 3G pitch and playground – as well as lots of EV and bicycle charging points. The total cost will be just under £12m, so probably half the cost of a ‘traditional’ leisure centre with exactly the same facilities.”

The potential of ReCreation’s concept – and its impact on the UK leisure, aquatics and sports facility infrastructure – is clear. There are currently more than 1,400 pools in the UK which are more than 40 years old, while three quarters (76%) of all pools were built before 2000 – making them 25 years old and nearing their end of life. Those pools will need replacing, but the cost of doing so is something many local authorities simply can’t afford. No wonder, then, that data from LeisureDB shows that in 2023 more pools closed than opened – for the 10th year running – which means that the number of pools is falling dramatically.

“Not only is the number of pools decreasing, but the population has increased significantly since 2000, which means there are more people wanting to swim,” Turner adds. “So it’s a bit of a perfect storm when it comes to swimming, as the demand for swimming is growing, but the supply is decreasing.”

We believe that if you create warm, safe environments which are inviting, people will return to be active in it

TOTAL SWIMMING GROUP Through its different brands, the company teaches more than 30,000 children to swim each week:

Swim! Designs, builds and operates swimming pools in existing buildings Swim@ Operates swimming lessons on-site

Becky Adlington Swim Stars Teaches 2,000 children to swim each week at Bannatyne Health Clubs ReCreation Designs and delivers pools and leisure centres.

Could ReCreation’s cost-saving model to creating facilities be the answer?

“We truly believe this is a game changer,” Turner adds. “Let’s be honest, over the past 30 years, the entire system has been geared towards producing expensive facilities. One of the big reasons for that is that venues are often over- specified, partly because it is in the interests of professional services companies and consultants.

“Our view is that you can spend a lot of money on reception areas and facades,” Turner says. “You can make the exterior of the building look amazing and have a 75ft glazed atrium entrance which looks lovely – an architect’s dream. But people won’t get fit and healthy because of that. It’s not why they go swimming, or visit the gym.

“We believe that if you create warm, safe environments which are inviting, people will return to be active in it – whether it’s swimming or working out in a gym. So the savings we are able to achieve are partly culture and partly technology.

Turner adds, however, that being sensible and simple doesn’t mean “no frills” or budget.

“What we do is provide facilities that match the needs and requirements of the community which they are intended for,” he says. Which is, neatly, exactly the backdrop that compelled Parry, Adlington and Turner to start working together in the first place.

“When we first set out, we felt that there were things the aquatics industry could do better,” Turner says. “I think we’re on a path to doing that.”

ReCreation projects Rainham Leisure Centre Client: Havering London Borough Council Facilities: 25m 6-Lane Swimming Pool 75 Station Fitness Suite Indoor cycling Studio Dance/Yoga Studio Cost: £8m Dukeries Leisure Centre Client: Newark & Sherwood District Council Facilities: Five-lane 20m pool viewing area changing village Cost: £3m

Becontree Heath Leisure Centre, Dagenham Client: Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council Facilities: 50m 4-Lane Swimming Pool Changing Village Cost: £2.5m Lichfield Leisure Centre Client: Lichfield District Council Facilities: 25m pool 80 station gym dance hall Indoor cycling studio Community spaces 3G pitch Cost: £11m

ReCreation partners ● Box Architects ● BWB - mechanical and electrical services ● GWB - PM-QS consultancy ● Adept - civil & structural engineering ● Astral Pool – swimming pools ● PMQS – construction solutions