Learning to swim can save lives. But during the corona pandemic, the number of non-swimmers continued to rise. Every second eight-year-old who has to go to school in Vienna can’t stand. In the summer, the federal capital launches a major swimming offensive.
A specialist sounds the alarm: “When the third-graders come to our school swimming school, 50 percent of the children cannot swim. 60 percent of them learn it in our courses,” reports Elisabeth Kellner, who is responsible for swimming at the Vienna Education Board. Due to Corona, the compulsory school swimming courses will be partially canceled in 2020 and completely canceled in 2021. This concerns more than 17,000 children who were then in the third grade of primary school.
Intensive courses for 25 euros
Half of them (!) can’t swim. The city is on the offensive to change that. Entitled “Vienna Swims!” students are called upon to catch up on swimming lessons: “During the summer holidays, Viennese students who have completed the third grade in the past three years can take a 10-day intensive course,” says City. Education Council Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS). The offer costs only 25 euros and is practiced in small groups of five to six children with swimming instructors from the Vienna Baths. Registration will take place in May, there are 1100 places available.
Action card for six free pool visits
In addition, the clubs of Vienna offer swimming courses in the afternoon between July 4 and August 28. All school children of the affected years will also receive a campaign card for six free entrances with an accompanying person to the indoor and outdoor swimming pools of the city of Vienna. “The goal is for the children to consolidate their skills in the water and get excited about the beautiful sport of swimming, which is also my most important personal sport,” said Alderman for Health Peter Hacker when presenting the campaign. The promotion card is not valid in the stadium swimming pool and in the town hall (they are not managed by MA 44, editor’s note).
Programs are now being developed not only in Vienna so that more children in Austria can swim again. Many federal states start big swimming offensives in the summer.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
