Tackling the swimming crisis and giving children a reason to stay in the pool

Behind all of Aquatic 2012 CIC's programmes is a simple belief: learning to swim is an essential life skill, but access to swimming remains far too unequal.

Through subsidised holiday lessons, Top Up Swimming, school partnerships, water-safety programmes and free community events, the organisation has spent the year trying to create more opportunities for children to get into the water — particularly those who may otherwise miss out.

But Aquatic's ambition goes beyond achieving the minimum swimming standard.

Once children become safe and confident swimmers, the organisation wants to give them reasons to keep swimming: whether that is competitive swimming, Water Polo, artistic swimming, lifesaving or simply developing greater confidence and enjoyment in the water.

Russell Clough, Director of Swimming at Aquatic 2012 CIC, said: “We are still seeing far too many children who simply haven't had enough time in the water to become confident, safe swimmers. For some families access to regular lessons is difficult, and for schools there are challenges around pool time, transport and cost. Programmes such as Top Up Swimming are about identifying those children and giving them the additional opportunity they need.

“But we also don't want swimming to end when a child can swim 25 metres. We want to inspire them to keep going. That's why exposing children to different aquatic activities is so important. Competitive swimming might excite one child, while another discovers Water Polo, lifesaving or artistic swimming. If we can help children find something in the water that they genuinely enjoy, they are much more likely to remain active and involved in aquatics for years to come.”

That philosophy has increasingly shaped the organisation's entire programme.

Swim & Play sessions have expanded to include artistic swimming, creating another pathway alongside swimming and Water Polo. Aquatic has also introduced swimming enrichment sessions for children interested in learning more about competitive swimming, while lifesaving and water-safety activities have become an increasingly important part of school festivals and community events.

The objective is not to funnel every child towards the same destination.

It is to give them more destinations to choose from.

From Mini Polo to international Water Polo

At the other end of the pathway, 2025/26 has also demonstrated just how far children introduced to aquatic sport at a young age can progress.

Aquatic 2012 CIC's Water Polo programme has continued to combine large-scale participation at entry level with an increasingly ambitious competitive pathway.

Free introductory events such as Girls Into Polo and the new Crawley community sessions sit alongside Mini Polo, Development Squads and the organisation's Competition Squad, allowing children to progress from their first experience of the sport towards structured training and high-level competition.

In June, that pathway reached the international stage when the Aquatic/Drenched Competition Squad travelled to Italy for HaBaWaBa International Plus, one of the world's largest junior Water Polo tournaments.

The team progressed into the Silver level, with only the Gold competition above them, and competed on equal terms with clubs from some of the world's strongest Water Polo nations, including Italy and Hungary.

For a programme based in Sussex, the achievement was significant — but perhaps even more important was what it showed the younger players watching from home.

The pathway is real.

Children can start with Mini Polo, develop their swimming and Water Polo skills, join the competitive programme and ultimately test themselves against players from around the world.

The year also produced another powerful example of that progression.

Aquatic/Drenched alumni Elsie Graves and Amelia Cook represented Great Britain at the 2026 European Aquatics Women's U20 Water Polo Championships in Portugal, with Great Britain securing a top-eight finish at the tournament.

For younger players within Aquatic's programme, having former players reaching international level provides visible role models and shows what long-term involvement in the sport can lead to.

Matthew White, Managing Director of Aquatic 2012 CIC, said: “We're incredibly proud that we can provide free and low-cost opportunities for children to discover Water Polo, but we also want there to be genuine ambition at the top of the programme.

“Our younger players need to be able to look across the pool and see older children training hard, travelling internationally and achieving things that they can aspire to themselves. Having players we've worked with go on to represent Great Britain, alongside taking our own junior teams abroad to compete against clubs from countries such as Italy and Hungary, makes that pathway visible.

“Water Polo is also an incredibly powerful tool for keeping children in aquatics. It gives them a team, friendships, competition and a reason to train their swimming. Not every child is motivated by swimming lengths or racing, so the more routes we can create, Water Polo, artistic swimming, competitive swimming, lifesaving and others, the better chance we have of keeping children engaged with the water.

“For us, that's the bigger picture: get more children swimming, help them discover what they love, and then give them somewhere meaningful to progress.”

Access. Inspire. Progress.

Taken together, the past year demonstrates the model Aquatic 2012 CIC is trying to build across Sussex.

Access — helping more children into the water through affordable lessons, school partnerships, Top Up Swimming, free community activity and targeted water-safety programmes.

Inspire — showing children that swimming is the beginning rather than the end, through Water Polo, artistic swimming, lifesaving, diving, racing and festivals where they can experience different sides of aquatic sport.

Progress — creating pathways for children who want to go further, from swimming development and Mini Polo through to competitive squads, national programmes and international competition.

It means that a child receiving additional help because they cannot yet meet the National Curriculum swimming standard and a young athlete representing Great Britain are not two completely separate stories.

They are opposite ends of the same pathway.

Because learning to swim can save a life. Finding a reason to stay in the pool can change one.