THE number of children in Holsworthy taking up swimming lessons has reached an all time high and 1610 want to encourage more to join.

The Holsworthy pool has seen 148 children enrol at its swim school. 1610’s other pools, Torridge and Torrington, have seen 648 and 226 children enrol respectively — giving a total of 1,022.

This is compared to 2015 when there were 529 children learning to swim across all three leisure sites.

Overall the increase in the numbers of swimmers represents a growth rate of 89% across all three sites in the numbers of children signed up for swimming lessons since 2015.

Adam Davey, senior activity leader and swim instructor at Holsworthy Leisure Centre, said: “It’s been great to see the increase in people joining swimming lessons over the last couple of years and how all the kids are improving and enjoying swimming.

“We are continually looking to build on the success of our swim school and expand what we are offering the community.”

Assistant general manager at Torridge Pool Matthew Wright said the success of the 1610 swim school is due to changes in timetabling and listening to what customers want.

He said: “We carried out a survey of customers across the three leisure sites about how they would like operations to be improved and many regular pool users did not enjoy splitting the pool to allow swimming lessons to take place. So we decided to close the pools for designated time for swimming lessons three times a week, which has meant we can offer more classes and smaller class sizes.

“Children can progress and move on the next ability class at the same time of day which makes it easier for busy families to organise their lives, and the children engage more with less distractions and are progressing very well as a result.

“The swimming teachers are very dedicated and have an important role to play in giving children a vital life skill, which is fun to do, builds confidence, keeps them safe and promote fitness. 1610 is delighted it has been able to respond to the demand for classes and will continue to build on this success.”