Swim England: 'Thousands of pools could close by 2030'

As many as 2,000 swimming pools could close between now and 2030 according to a report from Swim England.

Swim England, who represent pools, swimmers and swimming sports, warn that many pools in England need around £1 billion of investment so that they can be safe for people to use and remain open.

Many of these pools were built a long time ago - back in the 1960s and 1970s - so are run down and need money for repairs and better facilities.

This summer, the TeamGB and ParalympicsGB swim teams won lots of medals in the Tokyo Games.

Chief executive of Swim England Jane Nickerson said it's important that swimming pools remain open to help find and develop the next generation of talent to become the swimming stars of the future.

Commenting on Swim England's report, she said: "Pools are hubs of the local community, helping people of all ages to lead healthier, happier lives and saving the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds each year.

"Children will have nowhere to learn... preventing them following in the footsteps of Adam Peaty, Tom Daley or Maisie Summers-Newton and represent their country at an Olympic or Paralympic Games."

Is learning to swim important to you?

In England, it's thought that one million children will leave school in the next five years without having learnt how to swim because of lockdown.

It's a similar situation in Wales - with recent research revealing that over half of children aged 7 to 11 cannot swim 25 metres without help.

And in Scotland, 30% of children leave primary school not knowing how to swim.

How have the government responded to the report?

The UK government's Department of Culture, Media and Sport say that they are investing in sport in the long term.

A spokesperson from the department said: "We have been clear that the nation's health and fitness is a priority as we build back better from the pandemic."

The government says they have given England's leisure centres £100 million to help them recover from the pandemic

They say that £100 million has been given to the National Leisure Recovery Fund.

The National Leisure Recovery Fund was an initiative to support public leisure centres like swimming pools following this year's lockdown.

We want to know what you think - do you like to swim and use your local pool?

How would you feel if your local pool closed?

Let us know in the comments.