Swim Social - Fun Fitness Friendship

Everyone can swim – just add water!

Water is the order of the day as Scottish Swimming launches a new Swim Social programme, being rolled out across Scotland thanks to a new partnership with Scottish Water, which launches on 1st September.

Scottish Swimming and Scottish Water will work together to offer Swim Social, a coach-led adult swimming programme which is centred around having fun, getting fit and making new friends while improving stroke technique.

The programme which has been piloted in a number of areas across Scotland, will officially launch at Tollcross International Swimming Centre, the world class and host venue for swimming at the Glasgow 2014 Games on Tuesday September 1st, where a number of Scottish Water staff will take the plunge and be given expert advice from a qualified coach, as well as some tips and support from Double Commonwealth Games Champion, David Carry, who having retired from competitive swimming, remains active and passionate about his sport. 

Speaking ahead of the launch, Forbes Dunlop, Chief Executive of Scottish Swimming, said,

“A partnership with Scottish Water was an obvious choice for us, with water playing a pivotal role in both our organisations.

“Scottish Swimming’s vision is “everyone can swim” but we have found that adults often lack opportunities to improve their swimming and this is where Swim Social comes in. Scottish Water’s investment will assist with the marketing and promotion of this programme and will allow Scottish Swimming to roll out Swim Social on a national basis, working in collaboration with Local Authorities, Leisure Trusts and stakeholders to ensure the delivery of quality adult swimming provision, leading to healthy active adults who maximise their swimming potential. We are delighted to have them on board.”

Chris Wallace, Scottish Water’s Director of Communications, said:

“The aim of Swim Social is to provide fun, fitness and friendship, this is something that we fully support and we hope that by working with Scottish Swimming, by just adding water, Scottish Water, we can encourage people across Scotland to take part.

“Water is essential for human life and our wellbeing and the obvious links between Scottish Swimming and Scottish Water means it makes sense for us to work together to promote this great initiative.”

Swim Social is aimed at a wide range of people who have different reason for attending, from improving swimming ability and/or providing an alternative or complementary activity to running. It can also aid recovery following injury or illness, whilst, as it says on the tin, socially meeting likeminded people who enjoy fun fitness and friendship in a social environment.

This launch event will mark the start of regular Swim Social sessions in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, West Lothian, Stirling, East Lothian and Orkney. With darker nights and the weather turning, Scottish Swimming and Scottish Water  hope that September is the ideal  time to encourage adults to avoid winter hibernation and instead come along to their local pool and keep fit and healthy as part of the Swim Social programme.

Notes:
A dedicated area for Swim Social can be found on the Scottish Swimming website: http://www.scottishswimming.com/swim-social.aspx

About Scottish Swimming
Scottish Swimming is the national governing body for swimming in Scotland. Scottish Swimming represents our clubs, swim schools, aquatic disciplines, athletes, coaches and thousands of talented and committed volunteers across the entire swimmer pathway. We are focused on delivering in the following key areas to reach our vision to ensure that everyone can swim: learn to swim, participation in aquatic activities, club development, coaching partnerships and performance.

For more information visit www.scottishswimming.com

About Scottish Water
Scottish Water provides vital water and waste water services, essential to daily life, to 2.46 million households and 150,000 business premises across Scotland. Every day, it provides 1.34 billion litres of clear and fresh drinking water and takes away 847 million litres of waste water, which it treats before returning to the environment.

For more information, visit www.scottishwater.co.uk