“Swimming can help you live longer than walking or jogging, according to a new study.

Men who take a regular dip in the pool are half as likely to die prematurely as those who rely on leg power to keep fit.

The findings come from an American study of men aged between 20 and 90 who were studied for more than 30 years.

Death rates among swimmers in the age group were 53 per cent lower than those who did no exercise at all, 50 per cent lower than among walkers and 49 per cent lower than joggers.

Although the study, published in the International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education, looked only at mortality rates and not why swimming protects the body, previous research has shown it is one of the best ways of keeping the heart and lungs in peak condition.

Previous studies have shown swimming can increase bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis, although chlorine has been linked with childhood asthma.”

(Via Eat chocolate, it’s the doctors orders and swim for a longer life | Mail Online: .)

“Local communities are losing their sports facilities and squash clubs at an alarming rate. This can be stopped by strengthening a Government planning law called the PPG17.

PPG17 is the policy guidance on Planning for Open space, Sport and Recreation and is at the core of Telegraph Sport’s campaign in preventing further closures to sports centres in the UK.

According to the guidance ‘local authorities should ensure that provision is made for local sports and recreation facilities (either through an increase in the number of facilities or through improvements to existing facilities) where planning provision is granted for new developments (especially housing).’

In no way can a built sporting facility be pulled down unless there has been an equivalent facility replacing it or within close proximity to the existing site. Unfortunately there are many examples of this not happening.”

(Via Sign Telegraph Sport’s petition to help save sports facilities – Telegraph: .)

“Olympics chiefs’ plans for the sporting legacy of the 2012 Games took a blow today as the provision of public swimming pools in London was revealed.

An unprecedented audit of facilities by the London Assembly shows that after decades of closures 40 per cent of Londoners live more than one mile – or 20 minutes’ walk – from their nearest public pool.

The report’s authors warned that provision of public pools was unlikely to improve before the 2012 Olympics.

They said the findings suggest ministers will find it difficult to boost participation in sport – a key legacy aim of the London Games – through its £140 million free swimming scheme for children and over-sixties. The survey adds to concerns about public sports facilities raised by the Standard’s campaign for a legacy from the London Olympics.”

(Via ‘Londoners won’t have more public swimming pools by 2012′ ¦ 2012 London Olympics: .)

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“The poor state of London’s council-run sports facilities is exposed by the Evening Standard today.

Figures show a postcode lottery in sports amenities, with six out of 33 local authorities lacking an athletics track.”

(Via London sports facilities are costly and thin on the ground ¦ 2012 London Olympics: .)

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“Council swimming pools are shutting at the rate of seven a month, with the mendacious excuse of underuse generally cited as the reason for closure. Everywhere, the arrival of summer is marked by the sight of stomachs spilling over waistbands. It cannot be a coincidence.”

(Via Why are we all swimming in red tape? – Telegraph: .)

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“‘The Government is doing its best to promote healthy living – that’s what the smoking ban is about. They know they need to crack down on obesity, but if you are closing swimming pools, how does that help you to promote good health? What’s more, if you close pools, you will ultimately diminish our performance in the sport.’

Foster worries that swimming is no longer an option in this country for millions of potentially talented children whose local pool may have been closed. ‘If a teenaged Mark Foster was coming along today it would be a lot more difficult than it was when I was young,’ he said.

‘I think the sport in general is becoming a lot more middle-class. Your parents have to have a car to drive you to the nearest pool or you are stuffed, and that can’t be right.’”

(Via Mark Foster’s Beijing Olympics dream – Telegraph: .)

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“The Government face further embarrassment today over the figures they claim for swimming pool and diving provision in the country.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that almost 40 per cent of Sport England’s database of 171 diving facilities listed on the Active Places website are inaccessible to the public, with almost one third of them belonging to public schools.

Of the 171 on the list, 51 diving facilities belong to independent fee-paying schools, six have ‘closed’ written beside them, five others are known to the Great Britain Diving Federation to have closed, while six are on military bases.”

(Via Government include closed pools in their data – Telegraph: .)

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“Campaign groups across the country are taking local governments to task over their ‘willful disregard’ of many of the nation’s swimming pools. But one group is relying on more than petitions and protests to keep their pool open: it has taken their city council to court.

In December last year, supporters of the swimming pool at Gayton Primary School, Derbyshire, took Derby City Council to Birmingham High Court over the pool’s closure and are now waiting anxiously for the judge to deliver his verdict on whether the pool must stay shut. As yet there has been no date set for the ruling.

Derby City Council is accused of failing to comply with a covenant in their lease agreement for the buildings that house the pool and its changing rooms, which stipulates that the council is responsible for maintenance.”

(Via Derby City Council involved in court case – Olympics – Telegraph: .)

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“Schoolchildren in Fylde and Nottingham will take part in protest marches tomorrow to register their disgust that their local pools are to be closed. They will raise their voices to save Kirkham and St Anne’s in Fylde, and Victoria Baths in Nottingham.

Swimming is Britain’s most popular sporting activity. Twenty-two per cent of adults and half of all schoolchildren regularly go to pools. Yet the decline of swimming facilities mirrors an explosion in childhood obesity.”

(Via Pupils fight to stop swimming pool closures – Olympics – Telegraph: .)

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Why do people assume that a swimming teacher is the only person that can give their child to the desire and techniques that will help them to swim. The prize for stupidest letter of the month goes to Belinda with:

“??????. Stop the lessons now and don’t try again for several years. Of course it is important that all children learn to swim, but her life isn’t going to be blighted by not being able to swim at the age of 5. “

(Via Problem parent Q&A – Times Online: .)

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