1000 Year Swim comes to Swindon

In a bid to highlight the importance of historic public swimming pools, Dr Ian Dungavell, Director of national heritage charity the Victorian Society, will continue his epic task, which will see him swimming a total distance of 22 miles, on Wednesday 27 August with 117 lengths at the Health Hydro in Swindon. Built as a dispensary and swimming baths for the Great Western Railway Medical Fund in 1891, the Grade II-listed Health Hydro will present Dr Dungavell with his biggest challenge of the summer. A massive 33m long, the pool will require him to swim 3.86km if he is to complete his task which began at Bramley Baths in Leeds on Thursday 24 July.

‘I’m delighted to be visiting Swindon’s Health Hydro,’ said Dr Ian Dungavell, Director of the Victorian Society. ‘An unusual and impressive building, the pool is a great example of the role Victorian pools can play in the twenty-first century. We congratulate Swindon Council on keeping this important piece of living history going and hope that what has been achieved here will encourage other councils around the country to save and cherish their historic pools.’

From Swindon Health Hydro, Dr Dungavell will go on to visit the last pool on his list, rounding his challenge off with 116 laps at Dulwich Leisure Centre in London on Friday 29 August. Swimming a total of 1543 laps at fourteen pools over the summer, he will cover a distance more than equivalent to crossing the Dover StraitEnglish Channel. of the

‘It is a big task,’ continued Dr Dungavell, ‘But the distance should be far longer than it is. With well over 50 listed Victorian and Edwardian pool buildings dotted around England, it is shocking that only 14 remain in use and open to the public, whilst many of the others have been closed and left to rot. Pool buildings are notoriously hard to find new uses for. All too often, a decision to close them is effectively a decision to write these nationally significant buildings off. We must work hard to ensure that adequate funding and expertise is available to keep our remaining historic pools open to everybody for many years to come.’

Ian Dungavell will be at Swindon Health Hydro from 3.30pm on Wednesday 27 August. For more information about the 1000 Year Swim, please visit http://www.1000yearswim.com/ or call 020 8747 5897