Learning to swim is a skill you will never forget.
And in a bid to assist local children in being better equipped when taking on a body of water, a ward project has finally been launched.
The ward 49 learn to swim project is the brainchild of councillor Rashid Adams and was officially launched at the Athlone Swimming pool on Wednesday 2 February.
Adams has since got the buy in from Western Cape Minister of Social Development, Sharna Fernandez and the City of Cape Town.
A group of 30 primary school learners from Athlone North Primary School attended the launch.
Other schools participating in the programme include Silverlea Primary School, Peak View and Ned Doman high schools.
Mayco member for Community Services and Health Patricia van der Ross gave the keynote address at the event and encouraged the youth to be diligent in learning about safety and survival while swimming.
“There have been 19 drownings at our beaches over the festive season alone. The cause of many of these incidents is swimmers getting caught in rip currents or swimming outside of designated areas. We should not underestimate the impact of these programmes, which may lead to many lives being saved in future. More so, swimming offers many other health benefits in addition to being an enjoyable activity,” says Van der Ross.
Panic, not knowing how to deal with rip currents and not knowing how to swim are some of the dangers to locals. The programme will deal with these aspects.
The programme will be offered at no cost to participants as part of the City’s investment in youth development through recreation.
Fernandez who is a swim coach and has been involved in lifesaving for most of her life, says being able to swim means you can also save someone else.
She commended Adams for extensive community engagement and commitment to ensuring that a sustainable and quality programme was initiated in Athlone.
“There are 800 drownings in South Africa annually, approximately 600 of which are children. The Western Cape ranks third as the province with the highest number of drownings. Children are vulnerable near water and can drown outside of beaches and pools. Swimming is a life skill. Once you can swim, you can help someone else by helping them if they are in distress, teaching them how to swim or even by making it a career,” she says.
City lifeguards will also teach water awareness, swimming and basic first aid.
Survivial swimming training, facilitated by the National Sea Rescue Insitutute was on offer on the first day.
They also taught the universal distress signal should you need assistance in the water – raising one hand – and other tips including how to assist someone who has been hurt and how to call for help.
Lifeguards also did a lifesaving demonstration and offered information on beach safety.
This included alcohol and other restrictions, as well as identifying and how to get out of a rip current.
Following this roll-out, the City hopes to implement similar programmes at the 35 municipal pools across the city.
Some of the pools already offer the learn-to-swim programme, with a few done in collaboration with the National Sea Rescue Institute. The Recreation and Parks Department aims to roll out the programme at all open municipal pools in the future.
