Burnham urges First Minister for more swimming lessons

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 1st Jul 2008

Eleanor Burnham, Welsh Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Children and Young People, will urge the First Minister during Plenary today to make extra provision of structured swimming lessons for children a priority as part of the free swimming scheme in Wales.

Eleanor Burnham, speaking before plenary said:

"Figures from British Swimming show that every seventeen hours someone in the UK drowns. Drowning is the third highest cause of accidental death of children in the UK. Pre-school children are at risk of incidents at home in the bath or the garden pond, whilst older children are more at risk at open water sites.

"Currently, the free swimming scheme does provide one free structured lesson or activity per week, but only in the school holidays and access to these activities varies due to different levels of availability in different leisure centres.

"It is particularly important to provide structured swimming lessons to those under eleven so that all children have a basic competency in the water from an early age.

"Many families still face the barrier of poverty when trying to attend activities such as structured swimming lessons. By ensuring that all children have access to structured lessons we giving them an opportunity not only to partake in water based activities, but to learn the skills required to progress through the sport. You never know what talent may be lying undiscovered in our children and young people; by providing more structured swimming lessons we may gain the next David Davies, Tom Haffield or Jemma Lowe."

Ends/Diwedd

Notes

David Davies is the Welsh record holder for 1500 metres Freestyle and won a bronze medal in the same event at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Tom Haffield is the Welsh record holder for 400 metres Individual Medley and is currently ranked number two in the world for the event.

Jemma Lowe competed in the 2006 Commonwealth Games representing Wales and won a bronze medal for the 100 metres butterfly in the Short Course World Championships earlier this year.

All three Welsh athletes will be travelling with the British Team to the Beijing Olympics this summer.