English Channel swimmer Ed Williams to cause a splash with new learner pool in South Cambridgeshire village

His Elite Swimming Academy will teach children and adults in small classes at dedicated private pool.

A man who has swum the English Channel is launching a new swimming pool in South Cambridgeshire to give lessons to children and adults.

Ed Williams began teaching people to swim for a bit of pocket money. But his Elite Swimming Academy, founded in 2006, has grown to one of the biggest independent swim schools in the country.

The 31-year-old has swum channels around the world, including the Gibraltar Strait and the Irish Channel – regarded as the toughest channel swim in the world.

Now he is planning to open a 15-metre learner pool on January 29 in a barn conversion at Manor Farm in the village of Croydon, near to Wimpole Hall, which will be used exclusively for private lessons limited to just three swimmers at a time.

Heated by a biomass boiler fed by wood pellets, the pool can lay claim to being one of the most environmentally friendly in the UK.

Ed said: “Most of our three-year-olds can swim front crawl, back stroke and breast stroke by their fourth birthdays. It is a joy to watch this fast track progression and seeing the children having so much fun along the way.

“Although our services are more expensive than your local leisure centre, we actually work out a lot more affordable in the long run.

“The fact that we get our students progressing years in advance of their peers means that parents can stop swimming lessons years earlier. This results in less expense and, most importantly, safe swimmers at a young age.”

Elite’s swimming teachers typically have sports science degrees or equivalent. They also work with triathlon and marathon-distance swimmers.

But Ed stressed: “We don’t just work with high-end athletes. The majority of our work is done with complete beginners or general fitness swimmers who want to get faster and more efficient.

“Using the latest in mobile video analysis technology and computer animation software, we help our clients to achieve their goals in no time at all.”

Last year, Ed won the Entrepreneur of the Year title and his company was joint winner of Community Business of the Year at the SME Cambridgeshire Business Awards, backed by the Cambridge Independent.

Aferwards, he said: “The company has grown from doing just one or two lessons per week to teaching an average of 1,000 children and adults every week, from complete beginners through to fitness swimmers, triathletes and even members of the British team.

“Small classes combined with innovative teaching techniques and the highest-quality teachers and coaches is why we get such fast results in our students.

This year’s SME Cambridgeshire Business Awards are now open for nominations

Visit eliteswimmingacademy.co.uk or call 01223 633699 or 07739 804389.