By Aminata S Kuyateh
The Swim for Life Gambia Project Saturday graduated sixty-eight children between the ages of 8-15 who underwent swimming lessons covering 16 different courses.
The ceremony, the 8th edition since inception, took place at the Gambia Armed Force’s Joint officers’ mess at Kotu.
It was a moment of joy for parents, coaches and organisers of the 16- day long training at the end of which the children displayed great skills swimming from one end of the pool to the other without any form of support.
They granduands were taught on swimming styles namely backstroke, sustain, rescue and freestyle which they have demonstrated on graduation day before parents and onlookers.
One of the coordinators Abdul Karim Waagan Faye thanked the parents for entrusting them with their children and assured them that the objective of the project is to equip the children with skills in swimming which is not just a life saving skill but a potential big money earning career.
Zainab Cessay, a parent, thanked the organisers and encouraged Gambians to allow their children to enroll in the project to learn techniques of swimming. She said swimming should be included in the school PE programmes.
She urged government through the ministry of youth and sport to create community swimming pools around the country.
One of the graduating swimmers expressed gratitude to the organisers for the support giving to them throughout the course.
Background
In 2016, a group of swimming enthusiasts, lifesavers and journalists came together to form Swim for life Gambia with the aim of minimising if not ending drowning related cases in the country as well as to eradicate the notion that swimming is a taboo.
As a sport, swimming builds endurance, muscle strength, improves cardiovascular fitness, maintain a healthy weight, healthy heart and lungs.
