Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Andy Burnham indicated that the move was the first step towards the scrapping of all pool entry charges by the time the Games open in 2012.
In an interview with the Daily Mirror, he likened the plan to Labour's decision to introduce free admission to museums and galleries in 1997.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said that initially the Government will allocate £80 million to local authorities next year to waive charges for the over-60s, with a further £50 million for the upkeep of their pools.
However Mr Burnham signalled that future spending rounds would include further funding to cover free entry for the under-16s, with universal free admission by 2012.
"The big vision here is that in the same way that museums and galleries were made free we want, in a focused and progressive way, to remove entry charges for swimming," he said.
"The big picture here is getting free universal swimming by 2012. This is a real Labour policy - getting people to take part in sport which is good for them and good for the country."
Mr Brown, who is hosting a sports summit, will also publish the Government's legacy plan for the Games, setting how it will use the Olympics to promote sport, regenerate east London and boost business, tourism and jobs.
It is expected to include schemes to encourage walking and cycling as well as investment in construction skills.
Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said: "There is something for everyone in our plans - every part of the country, every section of the population."
Liberal Democrat culture, media and sport spokesman Don Foster said it was now clear that the Government had no chance of meeting its target of getting two million more adults into sport by 2012.
"We've lost an incredible amount of time waiting for these plans," he said.
"There are lots of organisations across the country working very hard to try and do this, but it all should have started a lot earlier."
Tweet
Comments
Login or Register to comment
If this can help to keep more public pools open then it is an excellent idea.
Free gym membership would be nice, not everyone is into swimming.
What about the nudist swimming at Levenshulme baths: is that going to be free too?
perhaps we could organise an online petition for the nude swimming Mr M. Keep It Commando strikes me as a good slogan.
More baths are needed They closed my nearest one down and built one in a completly different area I now have to get to buses and one of the buses is on a route where the buses only run every half hour and stop running early evening There is plenty of space at Eastlands so lets have one built there it is after all called SPORTS CITY """"
Down boys...down boys...
Watch what you say, you'll get a surge of complaints and the MEN censors will not know what day it is!
Another cheap sop to keep pensioners off the government's back!
Mam, mam,........MAAAAAAAM
wheres me woolly trunks?
This is how Brown is listening, funny I never heard anyone shout for free bathing. Typical politician say one thing and then does something out of the blue, are you listening Gord.
It sounds good and if it was restricted to the over sixties during weekdays, it might work, but the idea of completely free access for all is lunacy.
Aside from the fact that this will have to be financed by more tax, plenty of pools are well used already; if you make them free, they could easily become over crowded and unusable for proper swimming.
I have a membership of a local authority leisure centre pool and gym. If the pool became free and over crowded, I'd probably switch to a private run gym. If enough people did that, the facilities in leisure centres, other than the pool, could be jeopardised.
On top of that, if swimming is made free, other indoor activities will struggle to compete. You could see the provision of other activities, especially for children, dwindling.
But free swimming isn't running like fuel.....
With so many brits being very unhealthy indeed at the moment I think it is a good idea and it should be extended to families etc. at times to suit all, not just the retired elderly.
Surely if a more healthier lifestyle is being promoted, incentives like this should be pushed harder.