Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Schoolkids travel take boat from Orkney island to Kirkwall to hone swimming skills

Rousay swimming lessons
Youngsters from a remote Orkney Island have been praised for their passion and enthusiasm for swimming. Image: Holyrood PR/Supplied.

Schoolkids from an Orkney island have been praised for going above and beyond to become safe and confident swimmers.

A group of 13 dedicated youngsters from Rousay Community School have been making a 22-mile journey every week to take swimming lessons in Kirwall since October.

For the last seven weeks, the pupils, aged seven to 11, have been taking part in the national Learn to Swim programme at the town’s Pickaquoy Centre to hone their skills.

The school introduced the initiative a few years ago to give all pupils access to swimming lessons and to improve their water safety.

The Pickaquoy Centre is one of 37 venues to run the swimming programme. Image: Supplied.

Due to the remote location of the island, schoolkids have to travel for around an hour by ferry and two busses with headteacher Katie Lucas to reach the centre.

However, Ms Lucas said that even though travelling to Kirkwall for the lessons can be challenging sometimes, every journey is worth it for the benefit of the children.

She said: “Learning to swim is such an important skill and we want to equip our pupils to be safe in and around water.

“It is an added bonus that learning to swim brings a lot of other benefits too, such as improving a child’s physical and mental wellbeing.

“Swimming lessons have been offered at the school for a number of years but had to unfortunately pause during the pandemic.

“This is the first year we have been able to resume and it has been very well received by both the pupils and wider community.”

‘Geography no barrier to learning’

The Learn to Swim programme is delivered by Scottish Swimming and Scottish Water, with more than 500 youngsters taking part on a weekly basis at the Pickaquoy Centre.

The centre is one of 37 leisure trusts and aquatic providers and 160 pools across the country to offer the framework and help youngsters become competent swimmers.

Led by world champion swimmers Duncan Scott and Toni Shaw as its ambassadors, the programme has provided lessons to more than 100,000 kids since its launch in 2018.

Euan Lowe, chief executive officer at Scottish Swimming, said providing this opportunity is even more important in rural island communities.

He added: “It’s so important for everyone on the islands to have life skills to keep them safe in and around water.

Young swimmers welcomed six-time Olympic medallist and Commonwealth champion Duncan Scott at the Pickaquoy Centre in 2021 as he ‘dived in’ to their swimming lessons. Image: Supplied.

“Swimming is more than just a sport – it’s essential for the health and safety of the nation.

“We’re delighted to see the Learn to Swim programme working so well in rural communities enabling young people to develop the confidence, skills and a real love of swimming.”

Brian Lironi, director of corporate affairs with Scottish Water, said the programme presents an opportunity to create a young generation of safe and confident swimmers.

He added: “It’s fantastic to see that even when pools aren’t always within easy reach, geography is no barrier to learning to swim.”

Conversation