Double Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington praised Barnsley-based leisure provider BPL's extensive swimming lesson programme for young people when she visited the company's Dearneside Leisure Centre in South Yorkshire recently.

Rebecca spent the day with pupils from The Dearne High School at Goldthorpe near Barnsley after pupils secured enough votes to win an online contest run by her sponsor Speedo. The prize was to have Rebecca coach sports at the school and because it is next to Dearneside Leisure Centre, she was able to include a session at the 25m pool. BPL runs Dearneside Leisure Centre and 12 other leisure venues in Barnsley on behalf of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council. This includes a number of swimming pools and gym facilities that are closely attached to local schools.

She met the centre's Facility Manager Martin Prest and discussed the importance of young people learning to swim at an early age.

Rebecca was also impressed to hear about BPL's extensive junior swimming programme, which currently has more than 3,000 pupils attending weekly lessons. She said: "Swimming is one of the biggest life skills you can learn - it is so important to know that children are safe and able to look after themselves in the water."

Martin Prest added: "Rebecca was talking to the young people from the school about the importance of learning to swim, not just for safety reasons, but also to improve their health and fitness and encourage positive, competitive spirit. She was a real inspiration to the young people and we were delighted to welcome her to one of our leisure centres."