Plymouth College is proud to be in a partnership with Plymouth Leander (PL) - one of Great Britain's leading Swimming Clubs – to provide one of the world’s best swimming programmes. This partnership allows talented athletes from all over the UK - and indeed the world - to meet the demands of a Performance Swimming programme coupled with first-class support to achieve academic success.
Boarding accommodation, nutrition that meets athletes’ needs, support staff that includes strength and conditioning, nutritionist, physiotherapists, chiropractors, sport psychologist and sport science, education, transport, coaching and facilities are provided by the College, with PL contributing to facility hire, coaching, meet organisation, expertise and a volunteer base to name but a few.
Our flexible learning programmes allow athletes to study at a pace that suits their training needs. We are one of the few British swimming programmes recognised for our work by the National Association for Gifted Children. The combined programme offers many unique benefits, which allows young athletes to flourish, both in the pool and in the classroom - without one compromising the other. Bursaries and swimming scholarships may be available and considered on demand.
Athletes who join Plymouth College and Plymouth Leander will become more than just better pupils and faster swimmers. They will learn and develop values that will benefit them for the rest of their lives and will strongly contribute to become well-rounded young people. Team spirit, respect, discipline, compassion, organisation, decision making under pressure, attention to details, humility and commitment are but a few principles that we believe in and teach on a daily basis.
Swimmers have access to the 10-lane 50m and 6-lane 25m pools at Plymouth Life Centre, the school’s own 5-lane 25m pool and the 4-lane 25m pool at the Leisure Centre in Plympton. The programme offers 30 hours of high-performance swimming a week over 12 sessions, held before, during and straight after school. A further 90 hours of swimming time complete our swimming programme, making this one of the most comprehensive pool programmes in the UK for both day and boarding pupils of all ages. Land work takes place in the Strength & Conditioning Suite onsite, after swimming or during free periods.
This unique partnership allows individuals to come to Plymouth from a young age and to remain a part of the programme up to - and possibly beyond - the conclusion of their schooling, allowing them to have consistency of coaching into their University years or post-18 careers. The partnership has welcomed many day and boarding pupils who have developed into Olympic and World champions, World, European and Commonwealth record holders and medallists. It ensures regular international selections for Great Britain and home nations’ swim teams, as well as facilitating international success for athletes from many overseas nations. Recent alumni of both the school and PL include Ruta Meilutyte, Ben Proud, Reece Dunn, Laura Stephens, Tom Fannon, Jessica Jackson, Sophie Freeman, Honey Osrin and many more.
