Forty children finished an eight-week Club Links course at South Woodham Ferrers, awards presented by Olympic diver Sarah Barrow. Council lesson lists are full.

Forty children were given certificates and medals at South Woodham Ferrers Leisure Centre after finishing an eight-week intensive swimming course. The awards were presented by Sarah Barrow, the retired Great Britain Olympic diver, who now works as club and community development lead for Swim England (Chelmsford City Council, 4 September 2026).

The course ran for seven weeks of lessons and finished with a gala, in which the children competed in teams for a Club Links Champions title. Everyone taking part got a certificate and a medal, with extra medals for the winners.

Barrow won 10m platform gold at the 2014 European Championships, took World Cup bronze in the 10m synchro with Tonia Couch, and dived for Great Britain at two Olympic Games. She told the children: “Swimming is a life skill, a fantastic way to keep fit and healthy, and a sport you can pursue competitively.” Asked what she took from her own career, she said: “The best thing from my swimming career was my friendships.”

The course was part-funded by Swim England’s Club Links Programme and run with Woodham Ferrers Swimming Club.

Club Links exists to fix a specific problem: children finish a learn-to-swim programme and then stop, because nobody shows them the way into a club. The scheme pays for introductory sessions run jointly by pool teachers and club coaches, so learners get a taste of club training in a familiar pool with familiar staff. Swim England began it as a pilot and extended it after an evaluation of 15 programmes found 73 per cent of respondents said it improved local pathways, and every single one said they would recommend it (Swim England).

Woodham Ferrers Swimming Club has been at the pool since it was built in 2005. It is run by volunteers, takes swimmers from age eight through to adults, and covers all four aquatic disciplines, from fitness swimming to county and regional competition. It also has an open water coach (Woodham Ferrers Swimming Club).

Why the number matters

Nationally, 73 per cent of children now leave primary school able to swim 25 metres unaided, according to Sport England’s Active Lives Children’s Survey. That was up three points in a year when Swim England reported it in December 2025, and it is still below where it stood in 2017.

Swim England’s chief executive Andy Salmon said the figures were “heading in the right direction” but that “far too many children are leaving school unable to meet the requirements”. He put the blame partly on facilities: around 500 pools have been lost in England since 2010 (Swim England, 5 December 2025).

Roughly one child in four still leaves primary school unable to swim the length the national curriculum requires. Forty children finishing an intensive course in one Essex pool is a small number against that, and it is exactly the kind of number that only moves locally.

What it means for you

The catch is space. Chelmsford City Council runs the lessons at both its centres, and its own swimming lessons page currently says:

We are currently not accepting new bookings for any swimming lessons at Riverside, as all courses are full. We also have no space on our Stage 1/2 classes at SWFLC.

The same page adds: “We do not operate waiting lists for either centre” (Chelmsford City Council).

That is the position as published on 5 September 2026. In practice it means:

  • Riverside Leisure Centre: nothing available on any course
  • South Woodham Ferrers: Stage 1 and Stage 2 full, other stages may have space
  • No waiting list: you have to keep checking rather than joining a queue

The programme runs from Discovery Ducklings and Ducklings for the youngest swimmers through Stages 1 to 10, and there are separate adult lessons at both Riverside and South Woodham Ferrers. To ask about availability, call the centre on 01245 615050.

South Woodham Ferrers Leisure Centre is on Brickfields Road, CM3 5XB. Its pool is 25 metres and six lanes, with a boom and a moveable floor so the depth can be changed for different sessions, and it has a pool hoist and a Changing Places unit with a hoist (Chelmsford City Council). A Poolpod platform lift was installed there in June, letting disabled swimmers enter the water independently, as we reported in Riverside Leisure Centre adds a second Poolpod lift.

If you are driving over, parking in Chelmsford covers the city centre car parks, and things to do in Chelmsford has more for families across the district.

Sources