London boroughs with the highest number of swimming pools do not necessarily see the highest levels of children swimming regularly, Sport England data shows.
Figures from the Active Lives Children and Young People Survey reveal stark differences in weekly swimming participation across the capital, suggesting that access to facilities alone does not guarantee higher uptake among children.
Westminster, which has the highest number of swimming pools in London at 37, recorded one of the lowest rates of weekly swimming participation, with just 16% of children swimming at least once a week in 2023/24.
By contrast, Kingston upon Thames, which has just 15 pools, fewer than half as many as Westminster, recorded the highest participation rate in London that year at 36%.
Across London as a whole, just 23% of children swam at least once a week in the academic year 2024/25, with borough-level figures varying widely.
Participation ranged from a high of 44% in Enfield to a low of 13% in Hounslow, representing a gap of almost 30 percentage points between the highest and lowest-performing boroughs.
Adam, who runs the south west London based swim school ‘Going Swimmingly’, said that while access to swimming pools is important, convenience and routine often play a bigger role in determining whether children swim regularly.
He said: “Where swimming is convenient and fits around family schedules, children can swim more regularly, sometimes more than once a week.
“School schedules, homework and other activities can reduce the time available for regular swimming, which can interrupt progress.”
Adam added that swimming remains a vital skill for children to learn from a young age.
He said: “Swimming is an essential, life-saving skill. Introducing children to water from a young age helps them feel comfortable and confident, which is key for safety.”
Further analysis of the data highlights how unevenly access translates into participation.
When comparing the number of pools with participation rates, Westminster has 2.26 pools for every percentage point of weekly participation, the highest figure in London.
Kingston, on the other hand, has just 0.48 pools per percentage point, suggesting it converts access into participation much more effectively.
Other boroughs seem to outperform despite more limited facilities. In Enfield, participation almost doubled between 2023/24 and 2024/25.
Similarly, Waltham Forest, with just 12 pools, saw participation rise to 36% in 2024/25, placing it well above the city’s average.
For some families, proximity makes swimming easier to sustain over time.
Caroline, whose children grew up within walking distance of the Putney Leisure Centre, said living close to a pool encouraged her to get them in the pool from an early age.
She said: “Living so close made me start them earlier as it was such an easy activity on our doorstep.
“On cold, dark winter evenings, we were much more likely to make it to lessons because the pool was just a stone’s throw away.
“It was on the way home from school, and it made it much easier to stick with regular lessons.”
Caroline said teaching her children to swim was a priority, particularly for safety.
She said: “Swimming is such a vital skill. Because we started early, we felt more relaxed around any water, knowing our children could swim safely.”
While she said she would have always sought out swimming lessons for her children, Caroline believes proximity played a key role in making sure they started young and continued long-term.
The data suggests her experience is not universal. Several boroughs with above-average numbers of pools continue to record participation rates well below the London average of 22.8%, while others with fewer facilities appear to achieve stronger outcomes.
The figures also suggest that simply counting the number of swimming pools in a borough does not capture how accessible those facilities are in practice.
Opening hours, lesson availability, pricing and how easily pools fit into families’ daily routines may all influence whether children swim regularly.
In boroughs with higher population density or competing demands on facilities, even a relatively large number of pools may not translate into consistent or equal access for children.
This may help explain why some areas with extensive provision continue to record low participation ates, while others outperform despite fewer facilities.
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