INTRODUCTION

As in many developed countries, the leisure, health and fitness sector makes a significant contribution to the economic, social and health of the Irish population. According to Ireland Active (), the representative association for the sector, 490,000 people participate in personal exercise in gymnasia and leisure centres each week, making it the most popular form of leisure activity in Ireland. In addition, 33 per cent of all club members in Ireland are members of gyms or leisure centres, making it the most popular form of club membership in the country. The sector employs 9,500 people, with €450 million spent on health and fitness club memberships alone (Ireland Active 2017). Figures from the Irish Sports Monitor (ISM) support this assessment of the significance of the leisure, health and fitness sector. The ISM is administered by Sport Ireland and is an ongoing survey designed to measure physical and social participation in sport and other forms of exercise in Ireland. The most recent release, relating to data collected in 2017 (Sport Ireland 2017), finds personal exercise (primarily consisting of gym-type activities) and swimming to be the first and second most popular forms of physical activity engaged in by the Irish adult population every week. Swimming was also the only physical activity (out of the top five) to have seen an increase in participation between 2015 and 2017.

In July 2018 the Irish government released its National Sports Policy 2018– 27 (Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport 2017). The policy set out a vision for Irish sport to 2027, along with 57 actions to transform the sporting landscape over the next decade. One of the key targets of the policy is to increase overall adult (16 and over) participation in sport from its current level of 43 per cent of the adult population to 50 per cent by 2027. Action 5 identifies certain sports that are to be prioritized to increase sports participation levels. One of these is swimming, as it is seen as having the greatest potential for generating higher levels of active participation across the life course. In another stated action, a commitment is made to work “closely with relevant Government Departments, Local Authorities, sporting bodies and other stakeholders to agree a coherent national strategy for swimming.