OLYMPIC gold medallist Duncan Goodhew caused a splash with Calne schoolchildren when he visited the town to promote a charity swimathon.

Mr Goodhew's famous bald head was unfamiliar to many of the children from Dunstan's Primary School who came to the White Horse Leisure centre on March 11 for swimming lessons.

But Mr Goodhew sent ripples through the excited crowd when he swam a length of the pool underwater in three strokes.

The school's deputy head, Mary Pope, said: "It was all they could talk about afterwards 'I've swum with an Olympic gold medallist' they could not believe what they'd seen. He was really inspirational."

Mr Goodhew coached 60 children from the school aged between eight and nine.

He was promoting awareness of Butlin's Swimathon this week, when some 40,000 swimmers will take part at pools across the UK, aiming to raise £2m for Macmillan Cancer Relief. To take part, register at www.swimathon.org, call 0845 3670036 or pick up a form at your local pool.