Children at two Colehill schools have had the chance to meet the man who has been labelled ‘the human fish’.

Oly Rush has taken his environmental messages to a number of schools including Hayeswood and Colehill first schools.

The world record-breaking swimmer and anti-plastic campaigner spoke about his crusade to rid beaches of plastics and explained what the children can do to make a better environment.

The youngsters were already on board with his message thanks to the work done in the schools, but enjoyed the talk and fired lots of questions at Oly.

Kim Hodder, Eco lead at Hayeswood, said: “The children were fully engaged and really enjoyed the talk.

“Oly has done so much to raise awareness and he certainly inspired them to help improve the environment.

“We are taking the children on a beach litter pick so they will be able to do what Oly spends his life doing.”

Oly said: “The children have great awareness about pollution and it’s great to know we have a generation coming through which understands the problems we face – and is determined to do something about it.

“It’s also great to know that schools are not only teaching about pollution but are taking the children outside the classroom to help clean it up.”

This year Oly became the first person ever to swim non-stop around Grand Cayman in the Caribbean. It took him 37 hours. He also broke the world record for swimming around the Isle of Wight.

Hayeswood and Colehill first schools are part of Wimborne Academy Trust (WAT) whose chief executive Liz West said: “Having guests into our schools to give talks is really important.

“A character such as Oly is capable of helping inspire our children to do more for their communities.”