Olympic Swimmer Sophie Allen’s Ret …

Olympic swimmer Sophie Allen has returned to the Active Nation venue where she used to train as a teenager – in a bid to inspire the next generation of young swimmers.

As part of our brilliant discovery weekend Sophie visited Yarborough Leisure Centre in Lincoln where she coached the team and young swimmers from across the city.

She said: “By the time I was 23 years old, I had the opportunity to travel the world – Japan, China, Singapore, Dubai, Doha, America and most of Europe. I never ever thought that swimming would give me that kind of an opportunity. Sport really can open so many doors – you just have to go out there and go for it!”

The 20 young swimmers also got the chance to handle Sophie’s European Championships bronze medal, her European Championships silver medal and her World Cup medal. She also spoke about learning to swim, her road to London 2012, meeting the Queen, making sacrifices and dealing with disappointment and injury during her career.

As a young swimmer Sophie was a member of the Lincoln Vulcans Swimming Club and used to train twice a week at Yarborough Leisure Centre.

She added: “It’s pretty cool to be back and to see that it is still really busy. I think events like the Active Nation Discovery Weekends are amazing.

“There has been a big thing about how participation in swimming nationally has been declining and events like these can only benefit everyone and the sport.

“It is so important to keep people swimming, not just for sport and exercise, but also because it is an important life skill that you can take with you anywhere. It enables you to have fun in the sea and pools when you are on holiday and it can also save lives. It is just so important.

“I think it is great that Active Nation is helping people to get into the pool and all these other activities too.”

Active Nation’s Donna Taylor said: “It was great to welcome Sophie back to Yarborough Leisure Centre. All of the young swimmers were brilliant and got so much out of the coaching session – and so did our swim team too!”

One parent said: “Thank you so much. This really was brilliant and something they will all remember for the rest of their lives!”

One swimmer who also attends Yarborough Leisure Centre’s Swim School added: “Sophie was amazing. I’m definitely going to keep up with my swimming and use all of the techniques she taught us.”

• Posted on: Sunday, April 3rd, 2016 by Bita Rezaei