Making a splash: The Aqua Academy showing off their new kit.

Hays Travel in Jesmond have entered into a deal to sponsor the Jesmond Pool ‘Aqua Academy’, which offers opportunities and training for young competitive swimmers.

The deal, which was finalised earlier this month, saw the provision of new kit for the members and coaching staff of the Academy, as well as advertisement on the Hays Travel website. This is the first time the Academy, which was setup in January 2015, has received any form of sponsorship.

Academy head coach Chris Tibbs told JesmondLocal the sponsorship means that “We’ve got a formal identity right across the whole scheme now. If people in the Learn To Swim scheme [for beginners] can see Aqua Academy is still part of the identity, it’s something they can aspire to.”

Tibbs has high hopes for the Aqua Academy swimmers, who compete regularly against other swimming schools in the area. The team took eight swimmers to the Junior Shrimp Gala at West Pool last year, and came away with eight medals, a feat Tibbs says is “definite proof that the programme works”. The team will compete at the event again in December.

The involvement of Hays Travel is a continuation of the community support that has proved vital to the pool in the past. The facility was forced to close in 1991 due to council cutbacks, but re-opened again following the establishment of a charity by local residents to raise funds in order to lease the building from the council, and employ staff.

Amanda Gardner, branch manager of Hays Travel in Jesmond, presented the team with their new kit at a presentation ceremony at the pool. She said, “It’s a big value of Hays, to work back in with the community”, and that the company had “looked at what’s on our doorstep” in order to select a partner with which to work.