MANY of us have special childhood memories of heading to south Essex’s swimming pools - and Olympians have even visited Southend to prepare for the biggest sporting competition in the world.

Tom Daley won gold at the Garon Park Diving Centre just a matter of months before getting his hands on a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games.

He was joined by the likes of Jack Laugher and Chris Mears – who won gold in Rio – as Great Britain’s leading divers made the trip to Southend a year later.

Those were the days before the coronavirus pandemic forced the scheduled Olympics in Tokyo to be pushed back until next year and our swimming pools were shut.

Echo:

Olympic champions - Jack Laugher and Chris Mears headed to Southend to perfect their diving technique in February 2017

Join us as we dive into the archive to look at how popular south Essex’s pools have been over the years.

Scroll down to see more images of our south Essex swimming pools through the years.

Echo:

Making a splash - youngsters at Clements Hall Pool in 1987

Echo:

Heading for a dip - pupils at West Leigh School prepare to get changed and enjoy a swim in 1979

Echo:

Famous face - Olympic great Tom Daley won gold when he headed to the Garon Park Diving Centre for the National Cup just a matter of months before claiming bronze at the 2016 Olympic Games

Echo:

Lucky - the first swimmers to take a dip at the newly-refurbished Shoebury Pool in May 1988

Echo:

Rush of adrenaline - Mike Kemp moments after speeding through a water slide at Waterside Leisure Centre on Canvey in 1989

Echo:

Dry - lifeguard Chris Dannington stands in an empty Belfairs Pool which had been closed for re-tiling in 1988

Echo:

Watersports - Billericay Swimming Pool sub aqua club members in 1990

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Echo:

Splashing around - a host of schoolchildren have some fun at Clements Hall Pool in 1987

Echo:

Heading down a slippery slope - 11-year-old Elliott Radmill, from Hockley, sliding down a blow up sub at St Clement’s Pool in 1988

Echo:

Superstar - Tom Daley prepared for the 2020 Olympic Games, which was postponed until next year due to the coronavirus pandemic, by heading to the Garon Park Diving Centre in Southend

Echo:

Fun and games - Lisa Hayes, 19, at Waterside Farm Leisure Centre on Canvey

Echo:

Sign - the plug was pulled on the Westcliff Pool in 1973 and swimmers were directed to the indoor pool in Warrior Square