New U11s pool will be Becky Adlington’s biggest legacy for hometown Mansfield

Having brought back four Olympic medals and had Sherwood Baths renamed the Rebecca Adlington Swimming Baths, she will always have legendary status in her home town.

But, with up to a million children leaving primary school unable to swim and waiting lists for lessons, Becky believes the new chain of swim! facilities will help to address a huge problem and teach a vital life skill.

And she is so excited that the latest of them is on Portland Retail Park in Mansfield where she will be making a rare public appearance to open it, enjoying a coffee morning with local mums from 10am before an official opening in the afternoon.

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Adlington is co-founder of Sporting House, a group of Olympian-led brands, which includes swim!, SwimStars and Beth Tweddle Gymnastics.

She told Chad: “We have a different number of brands within Sporting House including my company, Becky Adlington' s Swim Stars and swim!

“swim! Is what's coming to Mansfield. We have five centres currently in the UK, mainly north-west – Manchester, Liverpool way.

“But this will be our first one, branching out and our number six happens to be in my home town of Mansfield which is absolutely brilliant even though it wasn't really designed to be that way.

“We just go where space is and where the opportunity comes off.

“Obviously it's come up in Mansfield and we jumped at the opportunity. It's just amazing.”

She added: “Swimming has a very rich history in Mansfield and fantastic venues and hopefully we can now add to that and get more kids swimming.

“We class them as a 'learn to swim' venue and it is purpose-built just to get kids in the water.

“It means the pool is a little bit warmer and it's a bit smaller – it's not a 25m pool where you can have races and galas and things like that.

“It is specifically to cater for kids – and babies as well. We will have baby classes where you come along as parents and get in the water with them.

“We will also have the lifeguards in and lifesaving skills that go part and parcel of that learn to swim programme as well.”

Becky is based in Manchester these days but makes regular returns to Mansfield where swim! will become its third swimming facility.

“Since I grew up there 30-odd years ago the town has obviously got so much bigger,” she said.

“All my family live in Mansfield so I go back all the time. And it gets bigger every time I do and I see something new that's happened or gone up.

“We need these facilities there. Swimming is such an important life skill and I think the people of Mansfield really take that seriously and understand it.

“Yes it's great getting the medals and everything else, but we have a swimming lifestyle in Mansfield as well – a real community feel for the sport.

“So the fact we can now cater for more and more kids is great as I know the pools that are currently in Mansfield and all over the country have kids on so many waiting lists trying to get swimming lessons. The demand is just so high. As places are growing so quickly they just can't cater for them all.

“This new venue can be well utilised and hopefully we can then feed into the clubs that are at those venues like Sherwood Colliery and Nova Centurion. The kids will come out our lessons and hopefully feed into those clubs.”

She continued: “I am back in Mansfield pretty much every month as both my sisters and my mum and dad still live there. So I am home more often than I'm not to be honest.

“I love it that way. I still like to get out and do things there like walking in Sherwood Pines. But I have not done anything 'public' there for a while so it will be amazing for me.

“I have a few things planned in – coffee mornings and a local rivers clean-up we are doing.

“I can't wait to see the lessons up and running and the venue now.”

Having won two gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, Becky can vividly remember her open top bus ride around Mansfield where thousands of people turned out to welcome her home.

“I see pictures back of it, but that bus journey is all a bit of a blur,” she smiled.

“I remember how windy it was just on the top of the bus. The bus was shaking and I was holding on for dear life.

“It was quite funny being up trying to say hello to people while not fall out the bus – which is always entertaining.

“I have gone back to do so many things over the years. I've done stuff for the Armchair Club with the Swimathon just before the last lockdown.

“It's fantastic going back and meeting so many different people. I have very find memories.”

She is very proud that the pool she started out it now bears her name.

“This one is special for me,” she said. “I always still call it Sherwood Baths. I grew up just around the corner and I think most people say the Sherwood Baths.

“But of course it's an honour to have that in my name. It is an amazing legacy and my nephews and so on drive past it all the time and to associate it with me is absolutely incredible.

“But obviously it's not a facility I am involved with. I'm not involved in the lessons or anything. It's just more of an honour to have my name there.

“So it will be so special to be involved more directly with that legacy at the new one, helping direct those lessons, helping those kids get access to a lifesaving skill, gaining that confidence and just totally loving the sport like I do.

“The other swim venues are fantastic but this one is extra special to me, especially being in my home town.”

Becky retired from competitive swimming nine years ago at the age of 23.

“I don't think about missing the elite side of it and swimming competitively which may seem strange to some people,” she said.

“But I still live and breathe the sport in so many ways whether it's doing the elite stuff for the Commonwealth Games and Olympics or being involved in talking about swimming and my learn to swim programme.

“It was all so long ago now. The London Olympics will be 10 years ago this year which is just mad when you think about it in that context. It seems like yesterday it was on.

“It is a distant memory now but a really fond one. I still love the elite side. I am still very honoured to do the BBC side and talk about it as I am such a fan of the sport.

“I have two kids now and my little boy at 10 months old was up earlier this morning than I used to have to get up to train.

“My daughter is six and both of them go to lessons. She is obviously independently swimming in the big pool and doesn't have armbands. She loves it. My little boy loves the water, splashing about. They are both very much water babies.”

But she is still as busy as ever in retirement.

“We have a lot of businesses under the Sporting House umbrella, but my main job now is my learn to swim business which I go into the office for plus my appearances which are extra special bonuses for me,” she said.

“I just want to make an impact.

“More and more kids are leaving primary school unable to swim and, since Covid, unfortunately there are so many pools that have not opened back up again.

“That is making an impact on the sport and it's about giving everyone the opportunity to learn and see it as a life skill and not just a sport.

“We are trying to get that message over and we still have a lot to conquer, even with over 25,000 kids a week on the programme.

“But there are so many more. Unfortunately there are thousands - and up to a million kids - not learning how to swim.