{"id":3873,"date":"1971-07-17T12:01:00","date_gmt":"1971-07-17T12:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/?p=3873"},"modified":"2026-02-17T12:12:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T12:12:33","slug":"earning-my-swimming-certificates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/earning-my-swimming-certificates\/","title":{"rendered":"Earning my swimming certificates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Wisewood junior school used Hillsborough swimming baths for swimming lessons. At the baths, now a Weatherspoons pub called Rawson Spring, we could earn swimming certificates, starting\u00a0 at 25 yards.\u00a0 Public baths at that time were built to the imperial standard before metrication (25 yards = 22.86 metres).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s how swimming certificates typically worked in the 25 yard pool of the 60s:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Beginner \/ Learner Certificate<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Swim the width of the pool <br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Often allowed any stroke<br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sometimes included:<br>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Jumping in safely<br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Basic floating<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><strong>25 Yard Certificate<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Swim 1 full length (25 yards) without stopping<br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>No touching the sides<br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Usually first \u201cofficial\u201d distance badge<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"703\" src=\"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-25yds-1024x703.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3874\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-25yds-1024x703.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-25yds-300x206.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-25yds-768x527.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-25yds-1536x1055.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-25yds.jpeg 1666w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>50 Yard Certificate<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>2 lengths of a 25-yard pool<br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Continuous swim<br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Often required a recognised stroke<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>100 Yard Certificate<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>4 lengths<br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Demonstrated stamina<br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Usually breaststroke or front crawl<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"708\" src=\"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-100yds-1024x708.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3875\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-100yds-1024x708.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-100yds-300x207.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-100yds-768x531.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-100yds-1536x1062.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-100yds.jpeg 1695w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Higher Distance Awards<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some pools including ours offered:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>200 yards<br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>400 yards<br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1\/2 mile (880 yards)<br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1 mile (1760 yards) endurance badge<br><br>(Very popular achievement award in the 1950s\u201370s)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"673\" src=\"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-440yds-1024x673.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3876\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-440yds-1024x673.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-440yds-300x197.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-440yds-768x505.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-440yds-1536x1010.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-440yds.jpeg 1694w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"703\" src=\"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-880yds-1024x703.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3877\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-880yds-1024x703.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-880yds-300x206.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-880yds-768x527.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-880yds-1536x1055.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swimming-880yds.jpeg 1666w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wisewood junior school used Hillsborough swimming baths for swimming lessons. At the baths, now a Weatherspoons pub called Rawson Spring, we could earn swimming certificates, starting\u00a0 at 25 yards.\u00a0 Public baths at that time were built to the imperial standard before metrication (25 yards = 22.86 metres). Here\u2019s how swimming certificates typically worked in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2321,2322],"tags":[964,2808,2806,2804,2807,2805,2299],"class_list":["post-3873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activity","category-sport-events","tag-hillsborough","tag-pool","tag-rawson-springs","tag-swimming","tag-swimming-baths","tag-test","tag-wisewood-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3873"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3878,"href":"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3873\/revisions\/3878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bargh.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}