31 March 2010

Media Release

For immediate release

FREE family swimming and water safety lessons

In a country where drowning is the third highest cause of accidental death there are still too many children who have not had the opportunity to learn swimming and survival skills, yet professional tuition is inaccessible for many.

Whanau Swim ‘FREE family swimming and water safety lessons’, making a welcome return on April 16 at Lagoon Leisure and Fitness (Panmure) and Onehunga Aquasport provides this opportunity, for those most at need.

Whanau Swim consists of five lessons, one per day, running from Monday 12 to Friday 16 April, providing participants with a positive and safe environment in which to learn some vital swimming and water safety skills, develop confidence and have fun.

This will be a new and foreign experience for many but families are urged to take advantage of this great opportunity, as numbers are limited. Enrolments can be made by calling the swim school directly:

• Y-Swim School, Lagoon Leisure and Fitness, Panmure, ph 09 570 9061
•
Hilton Brown Swimming, Onehunga Aquasport, Onehunga, ph 636 1129

An entry criteria for Whanau Swim is that at least one parent is in the water with their child during each of the lessons and evaluation of earlier programmes has highlighted its ability to provide parents with a range of skills and abilities they can use to continue teaching their children swimming and water safety skills.

Whanau Swim is a collaborative initiative between WaterSafe Auckland, Auckland City Communities Living Injury Free, Y-Swim School and Hilton Brown SWIMMING, with support from the Southern Trust.

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