The fight to learn how to swim: Courses for children are fully booked after just a few minutes

Created: 05/17/2022, 06:30

By: Melina Staar

A lot of children want to learn to swim: the pandemic has caused a huge wave of non-swimmers to build up.

"The pools are the bottleneck" Volunteers are still wanted © dpa

The demand for swimming courses for children in the district remains high.

However, the situation has worsened again due to units being canceled due to Corona.

Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen - "Our swimming courses are still in great demand," reports Maximilian Gießelmann from the DLRG Geretsried.

New courses with 30 places are fully booked online in a few minutes.

A beginner's swimming course at the DLRG Schäftlarn-Wolfratshausen recently filled up in less than 45 minutes.

"Demand is still very high, we can't offer enough courses," reports the second chairman, Mathias Feichtbauer.

On the one hand, this is due to the fact that the local group for beginners' swimming courses in the inter-municipal indoor pool in Geretsried only has two hours a week available, and on the other hand to the limited trainer resources, "because we also want to offer high quality".

Volunteers are constantly being sought because at the DLRG everything is done by volunteers.

Voucher from the Free State

In this school year, all pre-school children and first graders also received a voucher for 50 euros from the Free State of Bavaria for a beginner's swimming course.

"Actually, almost all of the participants hand this in to us," says Feichtbauer.

The action of the state government was basically great, says Jakob Jungmeier from the district water rescue service.

"But at the same time it was a big challenge for us." There wasn't enough capacity to redeem all the vouchers so quickly and at such short notice.

In the meantime, however, the situation has eased somewhat.

"Thanks to the great performance of our swimming instructors, who are more committed than ever." Nevertheless, not all inquiries have been taken into account.

"Waiting times of half a year happen again and again."

Older children are still looking for places

Most of the children are between 6 and 9 years old, reports Gießelmann.

"But older children keep coming to us who are still desperately looking for a swimming course place." In total, the DLRG Geretsried 2021/22 awarded almost 200 swimming course places, which is about 70 more than in previous years.

"We have reacted to the increased demand that has arisen due to the corona-related swimming pool closures." The swimming courses take place in the intermunicipal indoor pool, "thankfully we can also offer courses during the school holidays," says Gießelmann.

“I could teach classes 24 hours a day”

Also at the swimming school of Silvana Wetzel from Bad Tölz the rush is unbroken.

"The demand for swimming courses is still very high," she reports.

"I could also give courses 24 hours a day." Most recently, she was asked by the municipality of Lenggries to give swimming courses in the "Isarwelle" on Mondays and Fridays.

The offer was aimed at children from the community and was intended to help them get used to the water and take their first steps in swimming.

The course will be repeated.

In summer, Silvana Wetzel continues to give swimming courses in the Rottach outdoor pool.

"I'm very grateful and happy about that." Parents would take their children there from Jachenau.

Due to the closure of the baths in Bad Wiessee, Wetzel lost a location where she could otherwise give courses.

In Bad Tölz in the indoor pool, she still does not get any swimming times to hold her own courses there.

There she accompanies school swimming courses, as well as in the teaching pool in the secondary school.

"The bathrooms are the bottleneck"

Both bathrooms will be refurbished in the near future, as continuously reported.

Swimming times will therefore be eliminated.

These are actually already a sticking point, as Jungmeier confirms.

“We are seeing a clear and increasing deterioration as everything becomes more expensive and scarce.

The pools are the bottleneck.” In many places it is no longer possible to offer swimming courses at the prices of recent years because pool operators and communities no longer give swimming courses the necessary priority, he regrets.

Depending on the location, the lifeguards receive support in the form of free bathing time - or not.

The local groups would report that the situation was fine, "but it is becoming increasingly difficult".

It is only possible to offer swimming courses on a few days during the week.

"Starnberger-See-Horse"

In order to be able to offer swimming courses in addition to the two hours a week in the Geretsried indoor pool, the DLRG Schäftlarn-Wolfratshausen will again offer the "Starnberger-See-Pferdchen" in summer, when the water temperature in Lake Starnberg is warm enough, reports Mathias Feichtbauer.

"This is the opportunity, after a short intensive training, to put down the seahorse badge in Lake Starnberg in front of our water rescue station." However, one is of course very dependent on the weather here, there is no call for tenders yet.

Many work on a voluntary basis

Under the sometimes difficult conditions and in view of the fact that all swimming instructors work on a voluntary basis, it is "an incredible achievement" to set up so many swimming courses, says Jakob Jungmaier.

This year there are about 40 from the district water rescue service, distributed throughout the district, all of which are fully booked.

“We are striving for a supervisor key where two to three children can learn to swim per instructor.” This means that a lot of volunteers are also needed for the lifeguard.

Since the trainers carry out so many different tasks on a voluntary basis, Maximilian Gießelmann emphasizes that they are always looking for new team members.

"Everyone who enjoys swimming, including those who are new to swimming, is very welcome here."

Preparation for big action

Basically, one is satisfied with the number of volunteers, but "especially in the southern district there is still room for improvement among the helpers," says Jakob Jungmeier.

Luckily committed young people, some of whom grew up in the water rescue service, could be won over as supporters.

There are also numerous additional training courses for potential swimming teachers.

Five new employees successfully completed their training last month, reports Jungmeier, who is currently preparing for a major campaign with the local groups in the district.

Under the title "Bavaria swims", 700 fourth-graders are to be made fit for the summer in the week before the summer holidays this year.

"Over the past two years, the pools have been closed, swimming courses or swimming lessons could not take place, so that the current elementary school students had hardly any opportunity to learn to swim." The children should be offered the opportunity to attend a swimming course or a day to take swimming badges .

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