Olympic Legacy Pool opened by HRH The Princess Royal

Mount Kelly has a long tradition of excellence in swimming. It boasts 72 international swimmers, 17 Olympians and six Paralympians amongst its alumni. It also has one Olympian currently at the School.

Built in partnership with Sport England through National Lottery funding, the new pool opened in September.

As well as providing training for pupils at the School, the pool hosts long-course training by a number of swimming clubs from across the South West. The community continues to benefit from the school. Many children use the facilities for swimming lessons.

Rio 2016 Paralympic Medallists Claire Cashmore MBE and Mikey Jones MBE attended the Opening Ceremony. They received their MBE’s in the recent New Year’s Honours list.

Former Mount Kelly pupil Sharron Davies MBE also attended. She commented: “This is a fantastic boost for swimming across the whole of the UK. Mount Kelly has been at the heart of performance swimming for four decades and was the launch pad for my own International career.

“It is inspirational to see so many young athletes working hard to achieve their goals and it is fantastic that this facility will to be able to assist in producing the next generation of Olympic and Paralympic Champions.”

HRH The Princess Royal enjoyed a swimming display by local primary school children and members of Mount Kelly’s swim squad. After this he unveiled a commemorative plaque.