Derbyshire: Olympic swimmer opens new play area

Swimmer Rebecca ‘Becky’ Adlington braved rain storms to open the new facility at Carsington and Hopton Primary School on Monday morning.

Becky, who is also famous for appearing in ITV’s ‘I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here’, cut the ribbon at an opening ceremony for the new school play area in front of children, parents and members from the local community.

Commenting on Becky’s visit, head teacher Peter Johnston said: “We were delighted to welcome Becky to our village school.

“Sport and fitness plays a key part of our school life and having Becky in the school and teaching the juniors in their swimming will be a tremendous motivation to us all.”

Becky Adlington announced her retirement from international competition in February 2013, and immediately set out her vision for her legacy, which she sees as her greatest challenge in swimming. She aims to achieve her vision through her ‘Becky Adlington’s SwimStars’ initiative, which she has been working on for the last two years.

Her visit to Carsington and Hopton School is one example of this initiative and while at the school she spent time both talking to the children about her experiences and taking the junior children for a swimming session at Hopton Hall in their indoor pool.

Becky said “I’m very proud of what I have achieved so far, but my journey is not finished yet.

“My vision is that every child in Britain will be able to swim 25 metres by the time they leave primary school. Being able to swim is such a wonderful life skill, and I see this as my greatest challenge in swimming.”

Mr Johnston continued: “Becky very kindly agreed to cut the ribbon at our opening ceremony for the new school play area. Having an Olympian and Great Britain’s most successful swimmer open the play area is a real treat for us and will make this fantastic new area even more special.”