The Olympic success of Adam Peaty and Siobhan-Marie O’Connor is encouraging people to seek out their local swimming pool, according to the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA).
According to statistics presented by the governing body, 56,500 people have accessed its Poolfinder swimming app since the Rio Games started on 6 August – an increase of 53 per cent (20,000) compared to the previous month.
Swimming has been one of Great Britain’s most successful disciplines thus far in the Games with Peaty winning Team GB’s first gold medal, smashing his own World Record for the 100m breaststroke, while O’Connor won a silver medal for the 200m individual medley.
The statistics will be a welcome boost for the sport, which saw its participation rate fall from 2.54m to 2.49m over April 2015 to March 2016, according to Sport England’s latest
Active People Survey.
Nick Caplin, ASA director of participation, said the feats of Peaty and O’Connor were “clearly inspiring people watching at home”.
“The great thing about swimming is that you don’t have to be an Olympian to do it,” he added. “It doesn’t matter what age you are or your swimming ability, once you’re in the water you can have fun playing games, swimming lengths or just relaxing.”
ASA’s Poolfinder swimming app gives users details of their nearest swimming pool, such as location, opening times, facilities and classes.
