Olympic bronze medalist Steve Parry says rising cost of living could put children at risk

ITV Granada Reports' presenter Gamal Fahnbulleh speaks to Olympic bronze medalist Steve Parry about water safety.

Former Olympic swimmer Steve Parry fears the rising cost of living could end up putting the lives of children at risk - by denying them the chance to learn to swim.

It comes as new figures show 33% of children do not know how to swim and a third of children missed out on swimming lessons when the pandemic hit.

The bronze medalist, who nearly drowned as a child, has warned the cost of living could add to the problem by pushing prices up for families, something he says "is only going to get worse".

Speaking to ITV Granada Reports, Steve Parry said: "Cost is a real issue. We've already seen the decrease in leisure centre of 5% across the country during the pandemic.

"But I think that rate of closures is continuing simply because the cost of running these buildings is too expensive.

"So there is going to be less swimming pools, but there's also less money going around.

"I think the problem is only going to get worse so it's really important that children get some swimming activity in school."

Parry, who represented Great Britain in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, has said his first time in the water as a child was traumatic, but it ultimately led to his success in the pool.

He said: "My first experience of swimming was quite scary. I was on barge holiday on the Thames and I fell in the water.

"It was quite a scary experience for my parents. That was the reason they got me into swimming in the first place."

Swim England figures reveal a rise in drowning incidents in the UK last year, from 254 in 2020, to 277 in 2021 - that is almost a 10% increase.

Parry, who is originally from Liverpool, has said more children than ever before are at risk of leaving primary school unable to swim.

He believes learning to swim is a "basic human right" and a skill that all children should learn at a young age.

"There is almost a drowning a day in this country and we've seen, again, another year that the drowning statistics have gone up another 10%", he explains.

"There's a reason it's on the national curriculum. There's a reason why schools believe all children should be able to swim - and that's because it's a life skill."