All going swimmingly at Bailieborough Leisure Centre

Bailieborough Leisure Centre is “mental busy” according to manager and local woman Linda Ledwith.

The facility is running intensive swimming lessons throughout the summer months as it catches up with the backlog following the pandemic. Due to restrctions, children could not attend swimming lessons and the centre has noticed a huge demand for lessons since re-opening.

“We're just trying to incorporate as many lessons as possible,” Linda said.

“We’re running intensive lessons over the summer as best possible with additional private lessons to try and get more people into the lessons.”

“Our swim school is actually full, we’ve 1200 swimmers at the minute,” she said, adding that in pre-Covid times there were 500 swimmers on average.

“Kids missed out on two years of lessons,” she said.

Linda took over as manager of the leisure centre in 2022. She said people are coming from “all over” to use the facilities.

“We’d have people coming from Dundalk, Mullingar, we’ve a few from Dublin as well that actually come to our facility now - Cavan, Kells,” she listed.

Linda said people have been given “more of a push” to learn how to swim given sea and lake swimming incidents reported over the past few years.

Water Safety Irelands’ statistics show that there were 62 drowning accidents in 2023, 63 in 2022 (data for both years subject to revision) and 58 in 2021.

“I think it has definitely given people more of a push to get kids out now and get them swimming for the safety element of it.

“It’s of those things that, once they have that, they have it forever and they have the safety element around the water then for the rest of their lives.

“Down the line in their teenage years, you know holidaying and all of that sort of craic, they’ll [parents] know that they are safe when they go away.”

The thirty-seven-year-old stressed the importance of getting children swimming when they are young.

“They learn much quicker, a lot of the time now 80% of them would have no fear at that age.

“Before they start developing the fears as they get older, it’s better to get them in,” she advised.

Bailieborough Leisure Centre runs classes for parents and babies, parents and toddlers and tadpoles to level nine swimming qualifications, which caters for three month old babies up to thirteen year olds. Later they have the option of joining a club and doing water safety courses.

“It’s very much community ran,” she said of the facility, adding they have group lessons, schools, pay as you go members, occasional classes and gym users in the facility.

Operational from 7am to 10pm including lunch hour, they have a “fully functional gym with absolutely every bit of machinery up to date.”

On occasion, the facility hosts various exercise classes with external trainers.

Linda has been working there for the past 25 years.

“I started when I was fourteen, I’m actually there from day dot."

She encouraged anybody with enquires to contact the leisure centre. More information on Bailieborough Leisure Centre can be found at bailieboroughleisurecentre.com