Irish children put at risk by lack of access to swimming lessons

It's a no brainer. Teaching children to swim saves lives. Many parents want their children to have lessons, but with fewer public pools than ever, the chances of securing a sought-after place are slim. Louise Holdenreports on a nation only just holding its head above water

On a Sunday morning earlier this month over 100 people huddled in Monkstown, Co Dublin in the dark early hours, queuing on behalf of their children. They weren't there to buy a Harry Potter novel or secure a place in a private secondary school. All they wanted were some swimming lessons.

Swimming pools in Terenure, Templeogue and Stillorgan have the same pressure to deal with every time they offer children's swimming lessons. There just aren't enough swimming pools on the southside of Dublin. Recent pool closures and the withdrawal of school pools from public use, for example Castle Park, Willow Park in Blackrock, means that the number of places on swimming courses is shrinking every year. The problem is repeated across the State, where large sections of the community have no access to a public swimming pool.

Meanwhile, the Department of Education and Science has added aquatics and water safety to the primary curriculum. This is driving up the demand for access to pools from primary schools, and making it even more difficult for parents to get their children into basic training. They're not giving up - 131 people drowned in Ireland last year and many parents are determined to give their kids the gift of water confidence.

"We have 500 per cent more demand than supply," says Niall Cull, general manager of Monkstown Blue Pool. "Every 10th Sunday we offer new places and it's always the same - queues of parents up at dawn hoping to get a place, like the January sales. Last week, one mother had made a pact to get four places for herself and her friends' children - when there were only three left and she turned them down, the friends came right after her and took them. It's dog-eat-dog."

Kevin Williamson, general manager of Terenure College pool, says that the situation has been worsening in recent years. Public pools are closing down while private gym pools are taking over. The problem is, these pools are not geared towards the development of swimming. "When we offer new places for swimming lessons here, I know there will be huge demand.

The Government has not looked after swimming. Rathmines pool is closing, Crumlin is closing, Templeogue is run down, Glenalbyn is due for refurbishment, ESB Ringsend is closed. I've a list the length of your arm looking to use the pool," says Williamson.

"The Government has a very extensive plan for the development of swimming pools across the State, but according to Cull the majority of the new pools are still on the drawing board. There's been talk of a new pool in Bray for six or seven years, but still no pool. Louglinstown is the same," he says.

Tom Mowlds at Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council agrees that the south of the city is badly resourced at the moment, but insists that change is coming. "In terms of public pools, Monkstown and Glenalbyn are all we have right now. There are about 20 schools accessing each of those.

"Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council has just commissioned an aquatic study to look at the needs of the area and there is a big sports centre under development in Ballyogan. The newly refurbished pool in Dundrum will be open soon - there should be a total of five new pools open in the area in the next three years."

It will take a serious advance in the aquatic infrastructure to meet demand. The new primary school aquatic and water safety programme has been adopted by dozens of schools and thousands of children received certificates last year. Unlike the UK, swimming is not a compulsory part of primary schooling. However, many schools are eager to adopt the programme, which includes modules on farm and home safety.

The programme was developed by Irish Water Safety (IWS), in an effort, they say, to increase awareness of the dangers for children in, on and around water. The Primary Aquatic and Water Safety (Paws) programme was developed in 2003 at which stage 30 children aged 14 and under had drowned in Ireland within the previous five years.

"We approached the Department of Education, who then introduced Paws to the physical education strand of the primary school curriculum," says Roger Sweeney of IWS. "The programme is in its infancy in that fewer than 1,000 certificates were issued in its full year of operation in 2005. Thanks to Irish Water Safety primary teacher in-service training sessions and the promotion of the programme through schools, pools, TV and radio commercials, the program saw almost a tenfold increase in 2006."

This year, Irish Water Safety joined up with a charity (Water Angels) to employ an education development officer to promote the Paws programme to schools and pools nationwide and KIA motors have sponsored a Paws vehicle.

But how much can the programme grow, when schools and families are having problems getting access to pools? A Fine Gael survey of 1,400 schools found that 400 had no access to a pool. Of the schools that did, many said that they were unable to utilise the facility due to the costs involved in transporting pupils.

"We need to be realistic," says Sweeney. "If a school does not have access to a pool then they can't be expected to use the whole programme. We will not target schools that have no access to a pool. The programme has to work. Our education officer will try to build relationships between schools and pools. Meanwhile kids can learn how to throw a ringbuoy."

Three levels of the Paws programme can be taught before going near the water - home safety, farm safety and inland waterway safety; many schools may be using the programme without entering water.

Swim Ireland, the Irish amateur swimming association, would like to have been consulted in the creation of the Paws programme. They believe it doesn't go far enough.

"Swimming is part of the national curriculum in the UK, a compulsory module in Kay Stage 4, the equivalent of fifth class, by which stage every child should be able to swim 25 metres," says Charlotte Parker, education officer with Swim Ireland. "This forces local government to build projects around the programme. Swim Ireland was not included in primary aquatics curriculum, which is theory based, and not compulsory."

Parker is critical of the ad hoc approach to swimming training in Ireland. She believes a national programme is required, to be delivered through local authority pools or private pools. School swimming should not be dependent on teachers, she says.

The trouble is, a national swimming training programme for Irish children would require universal access to public pools, and for now, that's fantasy. The reality is hundreds of interested parents queuing for hours on a Sunday morning.

"Swimming is an early development sport - children need lessons young," says Parker. "Parents know this, and so do schools. Everybody's frustrated about resources and facilities for swimming."