Olympic champion launches 'The Tom Dean Swim Schools' in Maidenhead

Tom Dean leading the first session with children aged five and six at Braywick Leisure Centre

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Olympic champion Tom Dean officially launched the Tom Dean Swim Schools project in Maidenhead this week with a goal of supporting hundreds of community centres across the country by providing swimming lessons.

Dean returned from Paris 2024 having claimed his third Olympic gold medal and, after appearing on Strictly Come Dancing, he is now aiming to make swimming more accessible and affordable for people of all ages.

He's especially keen for children from underprivileged backgrounds to learn to swim and has partnered with the Royal Foundation for the Prince and Princess of Wales to provide 1,000 free-to-learn swimming packages for children as part of this endeavour.

His Swim School sessions will run at participating leisure centres and community pools up and down the country and it is hoped more than 12,000 people will register to take part in these lessons by the end of the year.

Dean launched the project at the Braywick Leisure Centre in Maidenhead on Monday and joined the first cohort of swimmers - aged five and six - in the pool to give them tips and advice on swimming technique.

Speaking at the launch, he said: “Around the country, we are seeing Community Pools closing or having to be filled in.

“This has a huge knock-on effect to local communities.

“Leaving Strictly means I can now turn my full focus to the Swim Schools and be at events like this, which is so important to me.

“The goal is to support hundreds of locations across the country delivering funding, facilities, coaching and more to people of all ages.

“Swimming is the only sport that can save your life, and everyone should have access to it, whether it’s just to gain those basic water safety skills or become the next generation of elite athletes.”

Jo Kilgallon, Head of Swimming at Braywick Leisure Centre added: “Programmes like this are essential to keep swimming openly available to all.

“Without it, we will be seeing more and more closures as Leisure Centres are forced to shut their facilities due to lack of funding, so I’m thrilled to see that someone like Tom Dean is using his platform to spearhead such an important project.”

Dean made headlines in the summer when he helped the men's 4x200m freestyle relay team claim gold at Paris 2024. It was his third Olympic gold medal after storming to two golds at Tokyo 2020 - held in 2021. In doing so he made history by becoming the first British man for more than 100 years to win gold in the men's 200m individual freestyle.

The following year he became England's most decorated athlete at the 2022 Commonwealth Games when he won a total of seven medals.

Returning from Paris this summer he received a barrage of messages from people saying they wanted to learn to swim but couldn't because of a lack of course and facilities.

Dean also recently attended the re-opening of the Birtley Community Swimming Pool in Newcastle alongside the Prince of Wales to mark the start of this partnership.

Swim Schools not only provides funding to keep pools and leisure centres running, but also highly qualified coaches and swimming programmes for people of all abilities.

Tom has also issued a call to action to any local schools, leisure centres or swimming instructors who want to get involved with the Swim Schools project.

To enquire about a swimming programme near you, visit https://tomdeanswimschool.com/