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Swimming

Big Splash

The ASA and Workplace Health

How Swimming can support your services, both for employers & employees

  • Please click here to read some key facts about swimming
  • The economic cost of sickness absence among those people of working age is thought to be over £100 billion per year
  • Swimming regularly for around a half an hour per week over a year can reduce coronary heart disease, stroke and Type-2 diabetes this would lead to a saving of around £1.1bn annually in terms of treatment costs to the NHS
  • Employers investing in their employees' wellbeing can reduce absenteeism through sickness, improve safety and make the work environment healthier and more productive
  • Swimming can provide another strand for you to recommend to employees
  • Swimming is suitable for all - it provides a supported workout 12 times greater than on land, without strain on joints and muscles providing you with a low impact workout
  • Swimming has positive benefits for general well-being, reduces tension, depression and anger
  • Swimmers can specifically benefit in terms of stress relief and muscular-skeletal benefits - two of the most common occupational health problems

Steps to introducing swimming to your workforce

Introducing swimming into your workplace can be as simple as:

1. Promoting the health and wellbeing benefits of swimming to employees

  • Placing posters in appropriate rooms and offices
  • Letters and leaflets distributed with pay slips and other correspondence
  • Through internal emails and intranet

2. Providing the opportunity for employees to go swimming - you might consider extended lunch hours or flexible working to support your employees

3. Developing links with local pools, matching sessions with working patterns and possibly negotiating discounts for your employees

4. Recruiting workplace swimming champions who already have an involvement in swimming

5. Developing workplace programmes from challenges to charity events to motivate people to get involved

The ASA can help you to integrate swimming into your workplace health offer, for more information please contact Jane Roche

 

Resources

Please click here to read about the five reasons to get in the pool.

Please click here to read the Occupational Health leaflet.

 

National, Regional and Tees Valley wide projects

British Gas Swimfit

British Gas Swimfit sessions offer you help with your swimming including hints and tips to improve your strokes and ideas for what to do while you are in the pool, register on the website for programmes, information and support. You can also access Swimfit programmes at most pools across the Tees Valley. Use the Calorie Cruncher below to calculate calories burned during different types of swimming and how this compares with Cycling, Running and Walking.

Get involved with Big Splash which is a national joint initiative between the ASA and BBC.

Free Swim Vouchers

Please click here to access free downloadable vouchers for Swimming Offers available at the Rainbow Leisure Centre and the Neptune redeemable at specific sessions. Vouchers include 2 for 1 swims, first adult swimming lessons for free, bring a friend for free (adult and junior) and discounted family swims.  These vouchers are running until the end of October 2011 initially.

Want to know more?

• Visit: www.swimming.org/library/document/asa-health-strategy

• Or email: swimforlife@swimming.org or Jane Roche, Aquatic Officer North East Region

Swimfit Calorie Cruncher

Calorie Cruncher