Why we should all be making a splash

Former Olympic gold medalist Duncan Goodhew MBE spoke exclusively to iVillage.co.uk about the many benefits of swimming and why he is supporting the world's biggest fundraising swimming event, Swimathon

Duncan Goodhew is one of Britain's most instantly recognisable sportsmen. His many achievements in the pool culminated in a last-gasp Gold in the 100m breaststroke at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

He is now leading the way in trying to encourage people of all ages to take up swimming and is lending his support to Swimathon 2010 - the world's biggest fundraising swimming event involving more than 15,000 swimmers with proceeds of around £1.5m going to the Marie Curie Cancer Care and The Swimathon Foundation.

You obviously went on to compete at the highest level - what motivated you to get involved in swimming in the first place?

Duncan Goodhew: I guess my formative years as a dyslexic who lost his hair explain a lot. After a lot of flailing around to latch onto something, I found that I was quite good at swimming. From that point, aged 12, I was lucky enough to be surrounded by people who were happy to help my dream.

Aged 14, I met an Olympian - and from that point on all I could think about was swimming for my country. I wanted to compete against the rest of the world. The flame was lit.