Olympic swimmer Amy Smith visits Gretton Primary Academy

Children from Gretton Primary Academy in Corby had an inspiring visit from Olympic swimmer, Amy Smith, last week.

Amy visited the school, which is part of Brooke Weston Trust, to talk to the children and work with them to build their confidence in physical fitness.

The whole school took part in a sponsored circuits session, led by Amy, and had a fantastic time hearing her talk about her sporting achievements and motivation, including what it was like to walk out to the Olympic pool at the London 2012 Olympics.

The freestyle swimmer’s story is an interesting one. She feared the water until she was taught how to swim at the age of seven, yet by the age of 18, Amy had qualified for her first international meet at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

After coming away from her debut Commonwealth Games with a 4 x 100m freestyle relay silver, Amy eventually became a regular fixture in the British swimming team by 2009.

Determination, self-belief and hard work were the themes of the day and the children enjoyed listening to Amy’s story of overcoming her fears to achieve greatness. Her motto: ‘The more effort you put into something, the more you will get out of’ resonated with the children and staff alike and was a great way to get them thinking about their own dreams and aspirations.

The children raised £2,000 as part of the event, which will go towards buying some new playground equipment, something that will hopefully encourage more physical activity, following Amy’s inspiring talk.

Sarah Block, assistant principal and PE lead for Gretton Primary Academy, said: “What’s so interesting about Amy’s story is the fact that she wasn’t the best swimmer in her early days, in fact, she didn’t even get into the pool on her first lesson.

“It just goes to show that with the right mindset and support structure, you can not only overcome your fears but thrive, as a result. It was a great lesson for the children to hear: We can do hard things.”

For more information on Gretton Primary Academy, visit their website.