Swimming clubs in Swansea say they face a funding crisis due to the loss of council subsidies for hiring pools.
There are warnings the cost of lessons will have to rise and some parents may no longer be able to afford to pay for their children to learn to swim.
One club - the Swansea Sharks - based at Bishop Gore School's pool in Sketty, said it was being charged almost £400 a week more since the change.
The council said the cuts were made due to "tremendous financial pressures".
The 350-strong Swansea Sharks who use the pool out of school hours six-days-a-week run classes for toddlers through to adult learners - as well sessions and competitions for more experienced swimmers.
Spokeswoman Glenda Morgan said: "We are a non-profit making club with about 20 teachers who only get paid expenses.
"We have been going for 20 years and provide a huge service to the community.
"It is essential that our children have the chance to become strong and confident swimmers"
"We try to keep the cost of lessons as low as possible - it is just over £1 for 45 minutes and we have parents who come from all over Swansea - but the cost of lessons will have to go up."
The decision to withdraw subsidies, taken at a budget meeting last month, is being challenge by the council's Conservative group.
Sketty councillor Tony Lloyd said: "For the hundreds of young people who attend these clubs it is an opportunity for promoting fitness and they play an important role in training members in life saving.
Frontline services
"Surrounded as we are by the sea and with the marina it is essential that our children have the chance to become strong and confident swimmers."
A spokeswoman for the council said the changes had been made reluctantly and that money saved would go on frontline services.
"In the past it has been possible to offer some community groups support with the use of discretionary grants," she added.
"In recent years there has been tremendous financial pressures as well as increasing demand for services.
"While this means that in future the swimming club will have to pay for the use of the pool - it's anticipated that the charges will represent good value for money for the club as well as taxpayers."
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