Parc Eglos school pool welcomes Olympic legend
7:00am Thursday 13th September 2012 in News
Former Olympic champion Duncan Goodhew
Parc Eglos School has been given the backing of former Olympic champion Duncan Goodhew after he visited pupils in their swimming pool last Friday.
Duncan, who won a gold medal at the Moscow Olympics in 1980, is still very much involved in the sport and was an Olympic Torch Relay runner this year. He told Parc Eglos how impressed he was with the school’s commitment to swimming, as well as the standard that the children were reaching at such an early age.
All the children currently have at least one swimming lesson per week in the pool and it has already paid dividends, with the school winning the Cornwall junior swimming championships this year. After spending time with the children in the pool Duncan told Parc Eglos: “I think that what you do is fantastic and your children are so motivated.”
Duncan, who is a strong advocate of localised pools, added that he was delighted Parc Eglos was still able to keep its pool open, praising the parents for their commitment and for the voluntary contributions that they freely give to keep the pool open.
Despite this the school is in need of urgent funding if the pool is able to continue to stay open. Headteacher Brett Dye said he “very positive” about the lifespan of the pool, but concerned that a lack of funding could seriously affect its future.
He said: “It is a wonderful pool for primary children and they develop so well through the weekly swimming lessons, but there are ongoing costs that we need to find; for example, we are currently having to replace the boiler and this will cost over £2,000.
“Moreover, we are really optimistic about the future and would like to build a changing room and toilet block for the children; it is the least that they deserve. I am sure we could achieve this if we could find some support within our community or beyond.
“We live 20 minutes from 20 beaches here and, apart from Helston Leisure Centre, which is usually fully booked up, there is no other indoor pool in our area. If we could develop the pool we could not only teach our own children to swim, but other schools, pre children and do sessions for older people and the disabled.”
Anyone wanting to offer their support to what Mr Dye said could be “a very exciting project” should contact Parc Eglos School on 01326 572998. Duncan Goodhew has already said he is keen to support the school in this project and has promised to keep in touch, saying foundations like these could make a real difference to future sporting generations.
