Sweet moment Prince William chats with 91-year-old swimmer

The Prince of Wales had a heartwarming interaction with a 91-year-old during his visit to a community pool yesterday afternoon.

Prince William, 42, chatted to a well-wisher called Mavis Townsend outside of Birtley Community Pool in the Northeast as he reopened the site.

In a touching conversation, Mavis told the heir apparent about her connection to the swimming pool, saying: 'I'm 91 years old, and I learned to swim'.

'No way,' the father-of-three responded before adding: 'It's very important, everyone needs to know how to swim, we're an island nation, we need to know how to swim… I'm glad it's back open'.

Mavis, who clutched on to a Union Jack flag, added: 'When I was a child we didn't have swimming classes in the schools we used to come here every Saturday morning, it was the only swimming pool in the area'.

William quipped back: 'Will you be swimming any time soon? There's a water slide in there, I see many 91-year-olds on a water slide, you won't be the first'.

To conclude the sweet interaction, William said: 'I'll have to visit the care home, please say hello to everyone in the care home for me'.

After asking for her name, he added: 'It's very nice to meet you Mavis. Thank you for coming out today... have a lovely rest of day.'

Elsewhere, before William chatted with Mavis, he greeted other members of the crowd with a handshake. He said to one: 'You've got cold hands; I know you've been here a long time.'

The Prince of Wales revealed his eldest son Prince George is an avid scuba diver during his visit to the community pool yesterday.

Prince William chatted to Team GB Olympians including Adam Peaty and Tom Dean at Birtley Community Pool in the North East as he reopened the site.

While in conversation with the elite swimmers, he revealed that he and his super-wife Kate, 42, 'adore' the sport - and their 11-year-old son has picked up a more daring underwater activity.

He said: 'Catherine and I both adore swimming. George loves scuba diving.' William added: 'He was ten years old, we took him under, thinking he'd freak out, but he absolutely loved it. It's just introduced him to the world of water.' 

Elsewhere during the visit, father-of-three William revealed why he wasn't present at the Olympics in Paris to cheer on Team GB this August, and instead chose to support the team from home.

Tom asked William: 'Did you manage to get out there [to Paris]?'

William replied: 'No I was so keen to come but I have to say after reading someone's interview about Covid [looking at Adam Peaty - who tested positive during the games] I decided, because my wife was obviously having chemo, that I didn't want to risk bringing Covid home, so Adam very kindly reminded me that that was still a thing! 

'But we watched the whole thing. We were glued to it every day.'

During the visit William also met Paralympians Maisie Summers-Newton and Louise Fiddes, who showcased their medals.

They continued to discuss the impact of community pools closing down.

Prince William said: 'We've heard stories up and down the countries of pools closing down, so we thought: ''no, we want to be able to stop this''. We want to replicate this [Birtley's pool re-opening] across the country because swimming is such an important part of life. We're an island nation, we should all have access to learn how to swim.'

The Prince also spoke to Tom about his recent departure from Strictly Come Dancing.

'Robbery was the word he used, very kind of him,' said Tom, who added that William said his wife Catherine was a 'big fan' of the show.

Today the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales announced a new partnership with the Birtley Community Pool to provide swimming lessons and lifeguard training.

Almost one in three children in the UK currently leave primary education unable to swim, according to a report from Swim England in May 2021.

As well as funding Birtley's pool, the Royal Foundation also announced they were forming a partnership with Tom's company 'Swim School' to provide 1,000 'learn to swim packages' to children across the UK next year.

Tom, who is a three-time Olympic swimming champion, said: 'I was talking to William…and we're going to be working together to provide swimming lessons for places in need…projects like this are brilliant and working with the Royal Foundation is a true honour.

'[Prince William's visit] is a testament to what this community has done. Getting that nod and recognition from himself [and] The Royal Foundation is really special.'

Aides added that swimming was going to be a 'big focus' of the Foundation going forward.

As he greeted royal fansyesterday, William betrayed barely a hint of his huge night at Villa Park the evening prior as his beloved Aston Villa beat Bayern Munich 1-0 in the UEFA Champions League. 

However, as he said hello to people who had gathered to see him, the father-of-three did admit he was still feeling a little bit hoarse.

Speaking to crowds before entering the venue, William was told: 'Aston Villa won last night!'

An upbeat William responded: 'They did, I know! I lost my voice because I was shouting a bit too much last night.' 

Read More

Kate keeps her promise: Princess's hug with cancer-stricken teen proves she's supporting patients

William beamed as he chatted with Peaty, who recently popped the question to Gordon Ramsay's daughter Holly.  

'Good morning everyone, so nice to see you!', the royal said, as he joined local people to celebrate the reopening of the pool and the unity of the community after a fundraising bid hit its target of £20,000. 

He also took the time to highlight the importance of swimming as an essential skill, with almost one in three children in the UK currently leaving primary education unable to swim.   

The Prince met with children at a primary school who were taking part in their first swimming lesson at the pool, as well as observing a lifeguard training session.

He appeared very upbeat as he stopped to chat to royal fans and schoolchildren.  

William also announced new plans for the The Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales charity to partner with Birtley Community Pool to offer swimming lessons to people in the vicinity.

The partnership will also provide lifeguard training to locals, in order to give young people the chance to learn new skills and give them the ability to save lives.