Summer of free swimming for young people in Leeds

Leeds City Council have today confirmed that free swimming for young people is to continue throughout the school summer holidays.

All council-managed swimming pools in Leeds have been offering free swimming for anyone aged 16 and under or 60 and over since April 2009 as part of the national drive to encourage more people to be more physically active in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The scheme which was fully funded by the Government through Sport England was due to end on 31st July following the decision by the new Government to end the free swimming programme as part of their economic savings, but Leeds City Council have now confirmed that the programme will be extended across the city for those 16 and under until 31st August.


In the first year of free swimming in Leeds there were over 247,000 free swimming sessions enjoyed by those 16 and under, an increase of 43 per cent on the previous year.

Free swimming sessions are available at all 17 council-managed pools, including those at the new Armley and Morley leisure centres which both feature state-of-the-art 25-metre swimming pools and 10m learner pools among the wide range of facilities on offer.

Swimming for under-5s is unchanged and will continue to be available for free in all council-managed pools. For more information on free swimming in Leeds visit www.leeds.gov.uk and search for ‘free swimming’.