Fitness Access for National Sportspeople
OUR FANS SCHEME
Our Fitness Access for National Sportspeople (FANS) scheme is a program that provides free access to our facilities for elite athletes who represent their country at the national level in any sport recognised by Sport England. Our aim is to support athletes by giving them access to our local sports centres, gyms, swimming pools, and other training facilities, helping them maintain their fitness and prepare for competitions without the burden of additional costs.
APPLICATION PROCESS:
- Eligible athletes must fill out an application form on the website, or contact your local centre.
- Proof of residency (e.g., a utility bill) and a letter from the national governing body are required as part of the application.
COST AND DURATION:
- An administration fee applies for new memberships and any subsequent renewals:
- £25.00 for over 18s
- £15.00 for under 18’s
- Once accepted you will receive a free Core Gym/Swim membership.
- The membership is valid for 12 months as long as the athlete continues to meet the eligibility criteria.
- You can apply again at the end of your 12 months as long as you continue to meet the eligibility criteria, the usual administration fee will apply.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
- Only athletes meeting the eligibility criteria will be granted access to the FANS Scheme.
- Failure to meet the eligibility criteria may mean the FANS membership could be revoked.
- Any publicity relating to LED must be positive and refer to us as LED Community Leisure or LED.
- A FANS membership will be valid for 12 months from the date the application has been accepted and eligibility will be reviewed at the end of this period should you wish to reapply.
- The FANS Scheme provides access to LED Gym and Swimming Pool facilities for training purposes.
- The FANS Scheme does not offer specialist classes, courses or court bookings free of charge. FANS usage only applies within normal opening hours, when usage fees do not involve extra cost or loss of income to the facility.
Terms & Conditions Updated: September 2024
ELIGIBILITY:
- Athletes must be competing at a national level in a sport recognised by Sport England.
- National level is deemed as either a member of a national squad or ranked in the top 10 (UK or England) for your age group.
- Proof of eligibility is required, typically a letter or certificate from the national governing body of your sport, confirming your status as a national athlete.
- Athletes must reside within the Devon or Somerset area to qualify for the scheme.
- Athletes must also have an active social media presence and on a monthly basis must:
- Acknowledge LED Community Leisure on your social media platforms, promoting the support you receive through the scheme.
- Share content that highlights your training, achievements, and the facilities you use at LED, giving visibility to LED Community Leisure’s role in supporting your athletic journey.
- Athletes must provide the following and agree to have this information displayed on our website and social media channels:
- A photo of yourself undertaking your sport alongside your name.
- A photo of yourself undertaking training for your sport at one of our centres.
- A 100 word summary of your achievements.
- A short bio about yourself and what you love about LED.
Our Brilliant FANS Members
William Letch
I have been a member of FANS for the past five years as a Masters swimmer and my link to LED has been with the 25 metre pool at Exmouth. As a retired person I am able to choose the best times to train on each occasion. LED’s timetable and booking app make confirming swims very easy and with the new automatic entry system, no hold ups at reception occur.
The controlling body for Masters swimming is Swim England (formally the ASA – Amateur Swimming Association) and they organise competition on local, regional, national and international levels. The entry age for Masters swimming is in the 25-29 age group and this five year age band continues with no upper limit. These age bands are internationally used.
I have been a Masters swimmer for the past twenty years and have been successful in competing against former international Olympic swimmers.
In 2010 I became the first 70 year old UK Masters swimmer to break 30 seconds for the 50 metres freestyle (29.4 seconds). In that year I competed in Sweden at the World Masters Championships and came away with two gold, two silver and one bronze medals. In recognition of my achievements I was awarded the ‘Devon Swimmer of the Year’ trophy, an award previously won by Sharon Davis, Tom Daley and Liam Tankard to mention a few well known athletes.
In 2020 (and just before Covid 19 hit the UK) I aged up to the 80-84 years age group and established seven short course British Masters records and four long course British Masters records. Later in early 2021 when FINA (the World governing swimming body) published their Masters Top Ten Lists for 2020 swims, I was named as the fastest swimmer in the World over four distances in the 80-84 age group.
I am presently a few weeks out of hospital, having been admitted with sepsis and pneumonia and the doctors treating me made reference to my high level of fitness as an 84 year old, which is also greatly helping my recovery stage. I know that my consistent swimming workouts through my FANS membership has played a major role in the references given.
At the appropriate stage of my recovery I will again start to swim and slowly and carefully build up my cardio vascular fitness and other levels.
If my recovery is consistent I will hope to compete in my next age group, 85-89 years!
Jean Fail
I really enjoy coming to LED Community Leisure because I don’t feel out of place because of my age. I always feel comfortable training. The staff are so helpful and very supportive.
In the last 37 years I have held many world and British titles. Also, many British records in long jump, triple jump, hurdles, and heptathlon. Hurdling is my main discipline now. I held the heptathlon British record for 18 years. I had a knee repair done 10 years ago and came back from injury whilst training at LED to win the world championship in Perth. I won silver medal in the World Masters Athletics 60m hurdles in 70 – 75 age group.
Keith Jenns
After a very successful military career within the Army, Keith has been a member of the GBR Winter Triathlon Team since 2009 and is also the Team Manager. He has consistently competed in both European and World Championships each year, with the exception of the COVID year. Throughout his career, he has earned multiple prestigious medals, including European Championship medals from Etna, Italy (2018), Andorra (2022), and Skeikampen, Norway (2023) for winter triathlon. Additionally, Keith secured World Championship medals in winter duathlon at Skeikampen, Norway in 2023.
Before transitioning to winter triathlon, Keith was a squad member of the GBR XC Skiing and Ski Orienteering Teams. He also had the honour of representing Great Britain at the Interski Congress in 2023, held in Finland.
The support given by LED Exmouth has enabled Keith to stay on track to gain the highest level within the sport.
William, Jean and Keith all make the most of our brilliant facilities at Exmouth Leisure Centre to enhance their training, why don’t you come and try them out for yourself?
Jack Davey
I’ve been involved with wheelchair basketball for around 16 years after a wheelchair assessment for everyday use and progressive with my disability. I went to the very next session and automatically fell in love with the sport.
I have now played basketball all over Europe and lived in Germany for multiple years and played at all levels of the sport. I now run, coach and play for the Exeter Otters wheelchair basketball club, coach England pathway and won multiple coaching awards including make a difference awards, UK coaching awards and others. I work as an mobility specialist at RGK wheelchair as well. Without the continued support of LED I couldn’t continue to perform at a high level and aim to inspire people with disabilities to achieve their goals!
Jack makes the most of our brilliant facilities at Broadclyst Leisure Centre to enhance their training, why don’t you come and try them out for yourself?
Kate Wheatley
At the end of August I represented GB in Istanbul at the Age Group European Triathlon Championships, finishing 5th in my Age Group. I am truly passionate about triathlon; love the 3 disciplines although it is quite hard at times to squeeze in all the training! I have also just heard from British Triathlon that I have qualified for the 2026 European Championships too having done quite well at a qualifying race in Stockport back in June.
Kate makes the most of our brilliant facilities at Broadclyst Leisure Centre to enhance their training, why don’t you come and try them out for yourself?
Ellie Dominey
I started life as a fell runner when living in Llanberis in North Wales, in 2010. After running a sub-3 hour marathon in 2012 and winning the Guernsey and Taunton Marathons, I started to develop over-use injuries. I took up cycling and swimming initially as ways of cross training to maintain running fitness whilst injured, but after completing my first triathlon in 2014, I got the multisport bug.
I love the personal challenge of a triathlon but, unfortunately, my swim is not quite as competitive as my running and cycling form so it is in the two sport run-bike-run duathlon format that I have seen international success, having represented my country at three European championships and medalled at all three. Crucially, I balance all this around being a full-time Mum to my 5 year old son and 3 year old daughter, so these days I go in for quality training sessions rather than putting in the high volume training mileage I used to prior to becoming a Mum in 2019. It makes life quite hectic, but I hope that by involving my children (they have accompanied me to all my big events and often take part in accompanying children’s fun-runs alongside the main event) that they will be inspired to pursue their passions and goals in life.
Before having my children I was a member of LED from 2012 – 2019. Post-pandemic when racing resumed, I have been lucky enough to return to using the excellent LED facilities via the FANS scheme. I am hoping to return to participating in triathlons with a half-iron triathlon in my beloved Snowdonia this summer, which has encouraged me back into the pool.
I love swimming at Sidmouth LED pool as it’s such a light space and the infinity edge makes it conducive to faster swim times. I also plan to introduce a strength and condition set into my weekly program to make me more robust, which I will need to be to handle doubling up over both the sprint and standard distance duathlon events over consecutive days at the Europeans in Poland this year, so I’ll be making use of Ottery LED gym facilities, in my home town.
Ellie makes the most of our brilliant facilities at Sidmouth Swimming Pool to enhance their training, why don’t you come and try them out for yourself?
Peter Gilpin
In my youth, I was a national standard swimmer, winning medals at county, regional and national levels and competing for Wales, my father being Welsh. Born and bred in Exeter, this also included Devon County records and representation and is LED Community Leisure’s former CEO before retiring in 2024.
After retiring from elite competition at the grand old age of 24, I turned to coaching and produced swimmers of national and international standard, including two Olympians.
Since my thirties, I have competed in masters swimming, for athletes in 5-year age groups, and won many medals of all colours. Highlights would include being the GB Masters champion in the 50m backstroke, placing 5th and 6th in a European Masters Championships and being a member of a British and European record-breaking medley relay team. I have also broken Welsh masters records in every age group in backstroke, butterfly and front crawl over the past 30 years as I aged up.
Most recently, I won a bronze medal in the 50m backstroke at the Swim England Championships last October, and another bronze in the same event in the GB Masters Championships in June at the London Olympic pool – see photo.
Although very much a sprint swimmer in swimming pools, in October last year, I decided to enter my first open-water 2.5k swim at Roadford Lake. I amazed myself (and the organisers) by not only winning my 60+ age group (aged 66) but also coming third overall behind a 21-year-old and an 18-year-old!
Peter makes the most of our brilliant facilities at Exmouth Leisure Centre to enhance their training, why don’t you come and try them out for yourself?
Stuart Baker
Swimming has been a passion of mine for many years, and I now compete at a national level in the masters category. My main events are butterfly and backstroke, which challenge me both physically and mentally, and give me the drive to keep improving. Competing at this level requires commitment, discipline, and a lot of training time, but the rewards of racing and testing myself against some of the best swimmers in the country make it all worthwhile.
I’m hugely grateful to the Exmouth Leisure Centre for supporting me in my training by giving me access to the pool. This makes a massive difference to my preparation and allows me to train consistently to stay competitive. The atmosphere at the centre is always welcoming, and it really feels like part of my success is shared with the community here.
A big part of my journey is thanks to Coach Bob Clarke and the Swim Fit sessions. Bob’s experience, guidance, and encouragement push me to swim harder and smarter every session. His coaching not only improves my technique and fitness but also keeps training enjoyable and motivating. Without the support of the leisure centre and Bob’s input, I wouldn’t be able to reach the level I’m at today.
Stuart makes the most of our brilliant facilities at Exmouth Leisure Centre to enhance their training, why don’t you come and try them out for yourself?