Swimming as a life skill: 'It will help you survive'
"It's critical to teach this life skill at a young age," says Hilton Slack, the Aquatics Director at Swimlab Aquatic Academy.
Swimming swimmer Swim pool pixabay
Sara-Jayne Makwala King spoke to Di Rigotti, the owner of Swimlab Swim School and Hilton Slack, the Aquatics Director at Swimlab Aquatic Academy.
Listen to their conversation in the audio clip below.
According to the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), on average there are approximately 1,484 drownings in South Africa annually, of which 29% (450) occur amongst children under the age of 14.
With summer just around the corner, many people will be heading to the beach or looking for a pool to take a dip in.
Sadly, it's also true that drowning stats spike during the summer months.
Being able to swim has been described as an important life skill.
"If you think about it, we all firstly teach our children how to cross a road...which is a life skill, so swimming is as important and a life skill to learn how to swim because if you think about it, the consequences are dire actually."
- Di Rigotti, Swimlab Swim School owner
"It's critical to teach this life skill at a young age."
- Hilton Slack, Aquatics Director - Swimlab Aquatic Academy
The unfortunate reality in our country is that learning to swim is more of a privilege because not many have access to a swimming pool or are financially able to pay for lessons.
Scroll up to listen to the full conversation.