Three swimming centres have signed five-year partnership deals with the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) to implement the National Plan for Teaching Swimming.

The centres – in Restormel, Cornwall; Hatfield, Hertfordshire; and Cherwell, Oxfordshire – have signed up to the national plan template, syllabus and awards scheme.

The programme will be implemented at several sites including Newquay Water World, the Hertfordshire Sports Village and the Bicester and Ploughley Sports Centre.

The move will enable the facilities to begin the process for gaining Aquamark accreditation, which recognises best practice in the delivery of swimming.

The ASA has also pledged its commitment to achieving the Intermediate level of the Equality Standard in 2007, following the award of the Foundation and Preliminary levels to the governing body earlier this year.

The Equality Standard has been designed by a variety of partners including UK Sport, the home Sports Councils, the English Federation of Disability Sport and Sporting Equals.

It is a system designed to assess the inclusivity of sporting bodies and deliverers for people from ethnic minorities, and those with disabilities, both within the organisations themselves and the sports they govern.