AS we enter summer, vital swimming lessons missed during this year have some professionals worried.<\/p>\n
Swimming coach and swim school owner Mark Stahl said COVID restrictions had the potential to impact his early developmental students the hardest.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe beginners are the ones who have really missed out over this year, the ones who can swim are alright, but the ones that can\u2019t might go to beaches, rivers or dams and think they will be okay, won\u2019t be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the biggest fear for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the kids at risk and need those swimming lessons to be aware of the dangers of water and to not be blas\u00e9 about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark Stahl Swimming School usually offers weeknight and weekend sessions at both the Ballarat Grammar School and at the Queen Elizabeth facility for all levels of swimmer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope we can get our pre-junior and junior squads going again to a degree depending on the numbers we\u2019re allowed to have because they\u2019re the most at risk,\u201d Mr Stahl said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can get the learn to swim going, it gives us five weeks before the end of term which is a starting point for the beginners to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n
While professional swimming is at the core of his school, Mr Stahl said for the younger students the focus is on the basics of water safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a heavy focus on water safety and survival, not so much on the swimming side of it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe taught the kids lots of survival skills, recue tactics and what to do if they fall in the pool, we talk about how to read a current in a river and how to find where a rip is in the beach.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should always be water safety, survival and then swimming.\u201d<\/p>\n
For babies and young children who may have missed out on crucial swimming lessons during the lockdown period, Mr Stahl said he suggests parents look to incorporate lessons about water safety into their day-to-day.<\/p>\n
\u201cRealistically you can\u2019t have swimming lessons every night of the week because it\u2019s too expensive but I would be encouraging families to get their kids into two lessons a week,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you go to the swimming lesson and you get taught how to hold your baby correctly on the front, back and side in the pool then you can have a couple of days and practice that in the bath.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat way there isn\u2019t so much of a financial imposition on parents either.\u201d<\/p>\n
As other sports begin re-commencing, many swim schools are still in the dark as to when they will be able to re-open and continue classes.<\/p>\n
Although operating at any capacity is the goal, Mr Stahl said that running his classes with restricted numbers will be challenging.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we opened the swim school in between the two lockdowns, because we could only have 20 kids in the water, it was financially challenging,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, at the same time a lot of families will want to do swimming lessons for the benefit of their kids, but they may have lost a job or their income.<\/p>\n
\u201cSwim schools possibly need to look at reducing the cost for families, so they might charge less for a lesson but if that means they come to two lessons a week and we\u2019ll hopefully break even.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AS we enter summer, vital swimming lessons missed during this year have some professionals worried. Swimming coach and swim school owner Mark Stahl said COVID restrictions had the potential to impact his early developmental students the hardest. \u201cThe beginners are the ones who have really missed out over this year, the ones who can swim […]<\/p>\n