as they claimed the first ever diving gold medal for Team GB. Pic: SWpix.com.
Team GB’s success in the pool at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games has created a wave of people taking to the water, according to the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA). Since Olympic fever took hold at the beginning of August, the association has been inundated with enquiries from people looking to get involved in pool-based sports.
In fact, almost 200,000 people accessed the ASA’s PoolFinder web app in August to search for their local pool – an increase of 38 per cent on the same period in July. The Team GB aquatics squads had their most successful Olympic campaign, taking home a total of nine medals, six in the swimming and three in the diving events.
City of Derby swimmer, Adam Peaty, lowered his own world record twice in the 100m Breaststroke, first in the heats and then again in the final. He finished a second and a half ahead of the rest of the competitors in the final to claim Team GB’s first Olympic gold medal.
Leeds-based divers Jack Laugher and Chris Mears made history for Britain as they claimed the first ever diving gold medal for Team GB in the Men’s 3m Synchronised Springboard event.
The increased visibility of diving at the Olympic Games led to the ASA receiving more than 780 enquiries from people wanting to know how they can join their local diving club, compared to only 63 over the whole of July. This record number of enquiries was the first time that enquiries about diving clubs outmatched those for swimming clubs.
Enquiries for swimming, synchronised swimming and water polo clubs also saw a significant increase, with swimming seeing three times as many enquiries than July.
ASA Interim CEO, Jane Nickerson, said: “The number of people searching for their local pool shows the impact that elite competitions have on inspiring people to take part in pool-based sports. It is amazing to see how these young athletes, many of whom started out on the ASA Learn to Swim pathway, have encouraged others to start their journey into swimming.”
