Many children cannot swim. Due to the Corona pandemic, swimming lessons could not be offered for a long time by clubs, (swimming) schools or other institutions such as the Wasserwacht or the Deutsche Lebens-Rettungs-Gesellschaft (DLRG) in Bavaria. This particularly affects children of primary school age. The DLRG estimates that more than 100,000 children in Bavaria alone were unable to attend swimming lessons due to the pandemic, and fears that an entire generation of non-swimmers is growing up. A perfectly justified fear, when one knows that there was an overall 70 percent drop in swimming tests.
The Applied Sports Science Unit with Dr. Christine Hoffmann, staff member in the swimming department, now wants to counteract this development with the new project "Students Support Swimming Lessons", or "SuSu" for short. The goal of "SuSu" is to make up for the lack of training over the past year. The project is being carried out in support with the Government of Upper Bavaria, the Munich School Authority and the specialist sports advisory service for Munich's elementary school at the Munich School Authority.
"The demand from schools for our free offer was enormous," says Dr. Hoffmann. "We had not expected so many inquiries. But this shows very well how high the demand for qualified swimming lessons as well as trained personnel currently is."
Starting in November 2021, 15 physical education students will be sent to a total of 30 elementary school classrooms to assist physical education teachers with swimming lessons. In particular, those teachers who have to teach around 20 to 30 children on their own are to be given qualified help at their side. This should enable the students to be divided into different ability classes and thus provide more individualized support for beginners.
"We have trained the 15 students in rescue and beginner swimming in recent weeks, in this respect they are well prepared to then go to elementary schools in and around Munich after the fall vacations," explains Dr. Hoffmann. "We want to use this primarily to help classes in which swimming lessons are taught by teachers alone, who have a particularly large number of non-swimmers or possibly also special children with handicaps or other impairments in the class."
The free additional training in beginner swimming, which students have completed, includes theoretical and practical knowledge of water familiarization and water mastery, as well as recommendations for teaching an initial swimming position. A comprehensive selection of exercises for the first attempts in the water and the transition to safe swimming were demonstrated using beginner swimmers. In addition, participants gained insight into safety and organization in swimming lessons and advice for dealing with fear in and in front of the water.
The lifeguard training in bronze or silver, which is licensed by the Wasserwacht, comprises 16 teaching units with theoretical and practical content on the prevention of accidents and rescue from the water, as well as an examination in accordance with the specifications of the rescue societies.
This project is intended to make a further contribution to ensuring that more children learn to swim safely.
To the homepage of the Applied Sports Science Unit
Contact:
Dr. Christine Hoffmann
Applied Sports Science Unit
Connollystr. 32
80809 München
phone: 089 289 24672
e-mail: susu(at)sg.tum.de
Text: Romy Schwaiger
Photos: „SuSu“/private