Cost of living: Only 'white middle-class' may learn to swim

Not enough school swimming lessons and rising costs could limit the activity to "white middle-class children", swimming's governing body has warned.

Only half of Wales' primary schools provide swimming classes and the cost of private lessons has nearly doubled since before Covid, said Swim Wales.

Its boss, Fergus Feeney, said children from deprived areas had "no chance" to learn without school swimming lessons.

Swimming was important as a life skill, for fitness and mental health, he said.

"We're going to have a situation very soon, dare I say it, that white middle class children will be able to swim and the rest won't," said Mr Feeney, chief executive of the governing body of swimming in Wales.

He was giving evidence to the Senedd's local government committee as part of its inquiry into council leisure services.

He told MSs that only 50% of the country's 1,600 plus primary schools took part in swimming and this meant that just 42% of children going into secondary school can swim.

"It's not a blame thing, but I think we've taken our eye off the ball regarding school swimming in a big way," he said.

"The average cost of a lesson pre-Covid was £6.50 and post-Covid, in the current environment across Wales, the average cost of a swimming lesson is £12.50.

"We've nearly doubled the cost of a swimming lesson.

"So those children in those hard to reach areas, the under-served areas, the socially economically deprived areas, they have no chance and that's why school swimming is so important.

"We're going to have a situation very soon, dare I say it, that white middle class children will be able to swim and the rest won't."

Swim Wales says pools across the country are struggling with higher costs with energy bills tripling in some cases.

Mr Feeney said there were just under 500 pools in Wales with councils owning about 200.

He said 80% of the council pools were 20 years old or older with Swim Wales describing them as a "crumbling estate".

Mr Feeney said sports organisations were "grateful" for the £8m a year from Welsh government for capital projects across the whole sector, he pointed out that the cost of an Olympic-size pool project was at least £40m and the refurbishment of the Lido at Pontypridd had cost £3m.