Inverurie swimming sensation Hannah Miley is making a passionate plea to keep local swimming pools open as she take the message to Conservative party conference in Aberdeen today.
The former world and Commonwealth champion is sharing the personal ways she benefited from local facilities in the north-east when she attends an event on the day the prime minister visits.
The triple Olympian is appearing at an event run by Scottish Swimming to highlight the work of UK-wide campaign Save Our Pools.
Speaking to the P&J, Hannah said: “Swimming is a life skill that everyone should learn to do.
“Pools host vital swimming lessons for 100,000 children each week, club swimming sessions for thousands for whom sport is a way of life, and opportunities for adults of all ages and abilities to connect socially and improve their fitness and health.
“I learned to swim in a small community pool and went on to be world champion and triple Olympian.
“While not everyone will follow that pathway, everyone needs a place to learn to swim.
“I now hope to continue to enjoy the benefits of swimming as a new mum and share my passion for swimming with my daughter.”
Swimming pools closing
Swimming pools face closure due to rising costs and budget cuts.Â
Last year, a deep cut to Sport Aberdeen’s budget spelled the end for the Beach Leisure Centre and resulted in the closure of Bucksburn Swimming Pool.Â
And city council officials have this year advised that funding to “sports organisations” could be slashed, which could free up £1.3m.
This would see the council’s contribution drop by a quarter – from £4.5m this year to about £3.4m across 2024-25.
Hannah has spoken in the past of her experiences using local facilities, and trained in the old Inverurie swimming pool for more than 20 years.
She credits it taking her to three Commonwealth and three Olympic games, along with multiple World and European championships.
The former Inverurie Academy pupil and Robert Gordon University graduate has also benefited from new facilities, including the new Inverurie pool at the community campus and Aberdeen Aquatics Centre.
The champion swimmer appeared at SNP conference in October, highlighting the importance of swimming and swimming pools for communities across Scotland.
Today, she takes her message to he two-day Tory party conference at the P&J Live.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will visit the north-east on Friday, meeting energy sector leaders and supply chain firms.
Writing for the P&J, he said: “I want more oil and gas that comes from home.”
Scottish Conservative MSP for the Mid-Scotland and Fife region Liz Smith, who will take part in the swimming pool campaign event, said Scotland is seeing pools disappear due to “SNP cuts”.
But the Scottish Government laid the blame with Westminster.
Ms Smith said: “It is fantastic that Hannah will be giving her first-hand experience of how important local facilities are to help people start out in swimming.
“Swimming pools are at the heart of our communities across Scotland and this deeply worrying trend of them shutting down must be reversed.
“I hope SNP ministers will listen to the calls from world-class athletes like Hannah Miley and put in place an urgent plan to keep Scotland’s swimming pools open going forward.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said it places “great importance” on swimming pools but stressed it is for local authorities to manage their own budgets, including on leisure facilities.
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