AN Olympic swimmer has shown his support for a scheme to get more Darlington residents into the pool.

Chris Cook, a double Commonwealth Champion and Olympic finalist from Newcastle, visited the Dolphin Centre today (Friday, February 27) to mark the official launch of Swim Fit sessions in Darlington.

Swim Fit sessions involve participants trying a variety of swimming regimes detailed in poolside exercise cards.

Since the Healthy Darlington team introduced the programme last month, it has been bucking the national trend of people not swimming by attracting new people to the pool.

Part of Swim Fit’s appeal is that sessions can be tailored to suit individual needs with 30 session cards ranging from 10 to 120 lengths displayed poolside.

Paul Downes of the National Governing Body for Swimming, Amateur Swimming Association (ASA), said: “Swim Fit is available to everybody and to all abilities, and with new and exciting easy to use exercise cards on poolside and motivational trained staff from the Dolphin Centre, there has never been a better time to get back in the pool.”