2023 SURVIVAL SWIMMING TEACHING OFF TO A GOOD START

Towards the end of last year, Survival Swimming Centre 3 was unveiled to the learners and staff of Duduzile Secondary School and the community of Oshabeni on KZN’s South Coast.

SURVIVAL SWIMMING FORMS A large part of the NSRI’s Drowning Prevention activities and has grown from strength to strength since it was launched with a handful of brightly dressed instructors encouraging children and adults to partake in basic breathing and orientation lessons at Sea Point Pavilion swimming pool at the beginning of 2020. Now there are three Survival Swimming Centres (shipping containers converted into working, portable swimming pools) strategically located at rural schools where they can be accessed by disadvantaged communities, and a further 14 instructors in 13 municipal swimming pools around the country.

Beyond The Pool

‘The benefits of survival swimming are manifold,’ says NSRI’s Drowning Prevention manager Andrew Ingram, ‘and they extend beyond the pool itself.’ Confidence and a sense of security are natural by-products of learning these skills, which include how to control your breathing, how to orientate yourself in the water, how to float and how to move at least five metres in the water, he explains.

It was with great pleasure that Survival Swimming Centre 3 (SSC3) was delivered to Duduzile Secondary School on KZN’s South Coast. Lessons are already underway, and children, teachers and the larger community are all able to benefit.

School principal Ms Smangele Msomi-Madlala is thrilled that the third NSRI Survival Swimming Centre has been placed at her school, which serves Oshabeni, a community about 30 minutes inland of Port Shepstone.

‘Some of our learners use bridges over rivers that tend to overflow when it rains, and having the skills of knowing how to get to safety when in difficulty in water is truly incredible,’ Ms Msomi-Madlala says.

SSC3 at Duduzile Secondary School – the facility will serve the school and then greater Oshabeni community.

Creating A Swimming Culture

Andrew acknowledges the incredible team effort it required to build and deliver SSC3 in record time to this poorly resourced setting, which educates 948 learners in difficult conditions. And thanks to assistance from local businesses, the centre was offloaded and filled with water – a task that posed a number of challenges.

‘All the hard work was quickly forgotten when the first children got into the water, which was a toasty 30˚C, and started their first lesson. We were also thrilled that two teachers were among the first in the pool, leading the way to bring swimming as a life skill to the Oshabeni community,’ Andrew says.

Most learners and educators have never been exposed to swimming lessons or water safety, Ms Msomi-Madlala explains. ‘This not only benefits the school but the community as a whole. When our kids are on holiday by the ocean, they will be able to apply these skills,’ she says.

‘We hope to create a swimming culture among the children and teachers who have started this journey,’ Andrew adds. ‘The skills the teachers gain will allow them to teach upcoming students how to survive in water.’

Learners enjoying a lesson in the toasty 30°C water.

➤ The first NSRI Survival Swimming Centre was placed in Riebeek-Kasteel in the Western Cape, and the second in Tombo near Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape.