Students teach children how to swim

The Rotary Club of Kassel has set itself the goal of helping 500 children from Kassel elementary school learn to swim in 2022. It is providing € 20,000 from donations from its members. Companies from Kassel (in particular Kasseler Sparkasse, GWG Kassel, Mercedes-Benz Werk Kassel, Hübner, Volkswagen) have increased the budget by a total of € 10,000.

The courses are run by students at the Institute for Sport and Sports Science at the University of Kassel. The KVG takes the children to the pool by bus and picks them up again after the course. The children are accompanied by the after-school caregivers. Städtische Werke provides the necessary swimming areas free of charge and admission to the pool is free.

At the end of the course, the children receive a certificate, a badge (seahorse or frog) and a booklet showing which exercises they have learned.

After a successful pilot in the Easter vacations, a further 420 primary school children will be taught to swim during the summer vacations. The courses will take place in the Auebad and the Hallenbad Süd.

Dr. Sebastian Fischer, Head of Swimming at the Institute of Sport and Sports Science at the University of Kassel, says: "Basically, the goal is clear: children must be able to swim! The ability to swim forms the basis for accessing the water as a space for exercise, with its rich opportunities for sporting activity and social participation. Nevertheless, the picture across Germany is the opposite: the number of non-swimmers of primary school age is increasing and the associated number of fatal swimming accidents has been rising steadily since 2000. This makes it all the more pleasing that over 50 percent of children from the Easter campaign received a seahorse badge at the end of the course. A look at the attendance list also shows that almost 90% of the children attended all the sessions. Learning to swim is fun!"