AN OLYMPIC swimmer spearheaded a free session in Crewe as part of a national campaign to encourage people to get fit through swimming.

More than 100 swimmers took part in the hour-long swim fit session, which was led by three-times Commonwealth champion James Goddard Goddard at Total Fitness in Crewe on Sunday, June 11.

The event was part of Speedo's ‘Dive In’ campaign, which is aiming to help adults swim their way to fitness by improving their front crawl.

The 60-minute Dive In sessions have been designed with the help of Goddard and fellow ex-professional swimmers Ian Hulme and Harry Needs.

James said: “Along with expert training advice, the session incorporated instruction on how to use a variety of different training aids, such as pull buoys, flippers and power paddles.

“These aids can help swimmers perfect an efficient front crawl and inspire them with new ways of mixing up pool sessions to increase fitness.”

Dive In has been launched in response to new research from Speedo, carried out to the marketing research company, OnePoll, which revealed that only one third (30 per cent) of swimmers surveyed in the North of England could swim more than four lengths (100m) of front crawl proficiently.

Despite being the highest participation sport in the UK, with 2.5 million people swimming once a week, the new findings from Speedo revealed that one in three (34 per cent) adults are still not confident in the water.

In addition, one in five (20 per cent) people that can swim, said that learning to be a better swimmer would encourage them to swim more frequently.

In response to this, Speedo is offering 10,000 adults free swim fit sessions at 50 pools nationwide from May to October.

James Hickman, global sports marketing manager at Speedo International, said: “We are hugely passionate about swimming and in this big year for the sport we want to effect a real change in the nation’s swimming habits and get more people swimming for fitness.

“By providing 10,000 adults with free sessions we hope to inspire people to Dive In and really get the most from their swimming – learning new techniques with some of the UK’s leading athletes, to maximise their fitness potential in the pool.”

Adults, aged 18 and above, can sign up for sessions at speedo.co.uk/dive-in