The Mayor of London visited a temporary swimming pool today.

Boris Johnson met children and teachers from Wanstead High School who have benefited from the 12-week pool.

The £30,000 pool was opened in January in the grounds of Wanstead Leisure Centre, Redbridge Lane West, for swimming lessons and general public use as part of the Mayor’s Make a Splash initiative.

The 12-metre basin was previously used for training at the London Olympics.

Boris Johnson spoke to the Guardian about the impact the pool has had on the borough. 

He said: “I am really pleased Keith Prince and the council found space to put one of the scheme’s temporary pools here – people seem to be enjoying it."

According to the Amateur Swimming Association, 60 per cent of children in London aged 7-11 cannot swim 25 metres.

Mr Johnson added: “It is a tragedy that 60 per cent of children in London don’t know how to swim and I want to change that – we are using mobile pools as a way of getting that going.

“I am aware that there is only one pool in Redbridge at the moment but maybe there will be some good news soon about another pool in the borough.”

Chris Van Bussel, headteacher at Wanstead High School said: “So many of the children have benefited from the pool so far – it’s been massively successful.”