The Swimming Teachers' Association (STA) has responded to views expressed by the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) in a recent Leisure Opportunities column.

In the column, ASA chief executive David Sparkes branded STA as being too "negative" and having a "narrow" view over the state of swimming in the UK.

Sparkes' comments relate to STA criticising an Ofsted report which stated that 83 per cent of children in the UK are able to swim 25m by the age of 11. According to STA, the Key Stage 2 requirement of 25m is not enough.

Sparkes went on to say: "I think that the STA is being too negative. The Ofsted report is good news, because more children are learning to swim and there is a recognition that the National Curriculum standard in itself is not necessarily an end point."

However, in a letter to the editor of Leisure Opportunities, Roger Millward, STA’s chief executive, responded by saying that: "As the independent voice for swimming, the STA provided an honest appraisal of what is happening in schools, and it is an opinion shared by many of our swimming teacher members.

"The reality of the situation is that in order to improve school swimming standards and give all pupils greater access to programmes, more government funding and support is needed.

"The truth of the matter is that schools are reducing swimming provision, with many children only getting the opportunity to swim for one year, possibly only one term!"

He also reinstated his concerns about the focus on Key Stage 2 levels, and warned that by merely being able to negotiate 25m does not mean that a child can actually swim.

He said: "The current KS2 requirement of 25m is not good enough. We have seen evidence of pupils passing the KS2 test by paddling 25m in warm water; if they were dropped in cold water they would probably swim 5m, if that.

"You need much more skill and much more stamina to swim in an alien environment, such as the sea or river or lake or canal if you get washed in or dropped in.

"Simply ‘ticking a box’ and saying you can now swim 25m could also possibly be giving children a false understanding of their own ability in the water, which could potentially do more harm than good."

The Ofsted report was published last November. Details: www.ofsted.gov.uk