Keep teaching, keep learning
“Did you know there is a Level Water Swim Teacher here?” “That’s me!”
This is the conversation that Cheryl Pottinger had at Lake32 last summer. Like a local celebrity she engaged in conversations with many swimmers taking part in the event. Lake32’s Wild Swim Relay was the 3rd lake swim of 2024 for Level Water. The swimmers had been fundraising all year and went on to raise £45,000 to provide swimming lessons for children with disabilities. This allows Specialist Swimming Teachers like Cheryl to support children that wouldn’t otherwise have access to swimming. So when she visited the event everyone was thrilled to meet her. Knowing that their fundraising was making a difference, particularly in their local area.
Cheryl’s journey in swimming began in 2002, when she also worked as a Trampoline Coach in the Swindon Borough Council Leisure Centres, where she soon expanded her role to lead on the children’s programs. Her first experience working with children with disabilities came through Trampolining and Rebound Therapy. One boy with Cerebral Palsy, who had trouble sleeping due to his condition, found the trampoline sessions helped him sleep for longer than 4 hours for the first time in months.
Over time, Cheryl worked in other roles such as Assistant manager, Sports Programme and Events Manager and General Manager. However, she realised that her passion was teaching and helping children with additional needs, a path that would shape the rest of her career. In 2014, after the Swindon Leisure Centre were acquired by GLL, Cheryl connected with Ian Thwaites, CEO of Level Water.
She became one of the first Swimming Teachers outside of London to train and work with the charity, which specialised in providing swimming lessons for children with disabilities on a 1:1 basis. By 2017, Cheryl had expanded her skills, completing training in British Sign Language and teaching children with cerebral palsy in the pool. She also became a Tutor for Swim England, the STA and Level Water, seeing her start to train new Swimming teachers and empower current ones to work with swimmers with disabilities. Since 2022 she has been Area Swim School Lead to the BETTER Swindon Leisure Centres, who are operated by GLL.
In 2024, she became one of Level Water’s first Inclusion Specialists, supporting children with disabilities in group Swimming Lessons alongside their peers. With 45 Level Water CPD courses under her belt, Cheryl is now employed by Level Water and GLL to play a part in helping to make swimming more accessible to children across the UK. Her students adore her, progressing from having a fear of water to being confident swimmers. Cheryl’s approach incorporates games and songs to make lessons fun while also ensuring safety and skill development.
Many of her students, like one young girl with a visual impairment, have gone from never swimming to achieving impressive milestones like swimming 100m independently. These relationships are deeply special to Cheryl, who believes in creating pathways for children to continue developing their aquatic skills, whether through 1:1 lessons, group classes, or para-swimming clubs.
Cheryl’s goal is simple: to inspire children to fall in love with swimming and to keep learning, because every child deserves the opportunity to experience the joy and confidence that comes with being in the water.