Swimming teacher, 82, retires after 50 years

A swimming teacher has hung up her water wings and buoyancy aids at the age of 82, after almost 50 years in the job.

Lin West started teaching at Jack Hunt Pool and the Regional Pool in Peterborough in the late 1970s.

Over the years it is estimated she has delivered more than 30,000 swimming lessons to about 400,000 students in the city and some of her former pupils went on to competitive swimming or became lifeguards.

West said: "Getting a child or an adult to be able to swim - there is no better feeling. That is what motivated me to keep teaching for so long and I would still continue to do it now, if only my body would let me."

She admitted she had not expected to still be teaching after 50 years.

"I would go from pool to pool to deliver lessons, often taking on different swimming classes on a temporary basis to help out, only to still be doing them years later because I loved it so much," said West.

"The job itself hasn't really changed at all, mainly just the different managers that I've worked for, including having my son as a boss for a while."

Local Masters swimmer, Chris Jones, was taught to swim by Lin in her early teaching days and said: "I met Lin at Jack Hunt Pool around 1980 and she was still giving me freestyle pointers a few months ago.

"She has taught thousands of local children the important life-skill of swimming during her amazing career and anyone who has been to a local pool knows exactly how massive Lin's impact has been and it won't be the same without her around."

A spokeswoman for Vivacity, which manages a number of venues across Peterborough, said West displayed "such a positive energy" and was "a role model to the other teachers".

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