Milton Keynes mourns 'legendary' woman who taught thousands of local children to swim

Doreen was a familiar figure at local pools for almost four decades from 1974 onwards and her motto was that no child was too difficult or disabled to teach.

She was so well known that former pupils set up a Facebook page several years ago in her honour, called The Legend That Is Doreen Adcock Taught Me To Swim.

The page, which has hundreds of followers, states: 'You're never too far away from someone who was taught by or knows someone who was taught by the legend that is Doreen Adcock.'

Doreen herself estimated she taught more than 13,000 youngsters, in some cases dealing with four generations of the same family. She often refused to take payment for her lessons.

In 2013 she was awarded the British Empire Medal for her services. She also won an MK Citizen Pride award and Sports Personality Of The Year accolades from the BBC.

She said at the time: "I used to swim in the River Thames near Putney Bridge, it didn't matter where there was water I'd be swimming in it."

Doreen taught many disabled youngsters to swim. Some were wheelchair-bound and other were blind or deaf.

She once said: "I teach them no matter what their handicap is as long as they like water."

Her daughter Jackie Adams posted the announcement of her death on social media.

She wrote: "It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I have to announce that my amazing mum, Doreen Adcock BEM, passed away peacefully during the early hours of 16th April 2020. She’ll be sorely missed all."