A local swim school based in Bolton has won a prestigious award at the National Aquatic Excellence Awards.

The Jelli Swim Academy, which offers classes in Bolton, Leigh, Wigan, St Helens and Southport, struck gold after being nominated for the Swimming Teacher’s Association Swim Provider of the Year last month.

(Image: Ryan Shaw)

The classes are run by Ryan Shaw and his wife, Laura Shaw, who also won swimming coach of the year at the Bolton Health and Wellbeing awards 2024.

(Image: Ryan Shaw) The school currently teaches 190 swimmers between the ages of 12 weeks old and 10 years old.

Ryan said: "Getting the award has been life changing, it’s a national award so as you can imagine winning this as a swim school that has been operating just over one year is beyond what we could have ever hoped for.

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"We were up against the likes of Virgin and other big name swimming lesson providers.

"It has given us such a boost and really driven us to carry on growing and reach our full potential as well as giving us a desire to continue to better our school and reach out to more children by expanding our areas.

(Image: Ryan Shaw) “We currently have three (myself and Laura included) teachers and 4 pool assistants but as we grow then so will our family of staff.

“We pride ourselves on how passionate we are about being fortunate enough to teach such an important skill to so many children.”