"Often the attitude of the parents is wrong": More and more non-swimmers - action day in fresch should change that
Created: 05/23/2022, 19:00
On target: Maximilian has managed his seahorse.
Thumbs up for this from (from left) fresch manager Alexander Frederking, Anna Becker, Jahn department head swimming, and sports consultant Jürgen Mieskes.
© Michaelek
More and more girls and boys can no longer swim.
Therefore, there is now the "Day of the swimming badge" in Bavaria.
Freisinger Fresch also took part.
Freising
– Many children today can no longer swim or can only swim insufficiently.
To counteract this, the Free State proclaimed the first day of the swimming badge on Sunday.
Water babies of all ages were also able to take their tests in the Freising adventure swimming pool fresch, which made Freising sports consultant Jürgen Mieskes (CSU) particularly happy.
Learning to swim, especially at a young age, is a fundamental matter for Mieskes, which is why he came to Fresch for a press conference on Sunday morning, while Prime Minister Markus Söder was simultaneously distributing seahorse certificates in Nuremberg.
"There were two accidents in the swimming pool here in 2021, which, thank God, went very lightly," Mieskes recalled the dramatic rescue operations last summer.
Children who could hardly or only very badly swim would probably have drowned without attentive bathers and fast-acting staff.
What is also frightening for Mieskes: "There are even many adults who cannot swim properly."
Swimming courses fully booked
Since swimming courses are fully booked everywhere, and therefore swimming pools like the Fresch hardly have any free capacity, Mieskes points to an alternative solution in order to be able to offer significantly more swimming lessons in the cathedral city.
"In Freising there is a teaching pool at the Lebenshilfe in Gartenstrasse, but there hasn't been any water in it for two years," says Mieskes.
And further: "Of course, Lebenshilfe cannot shoulder the renovation, the city has to help here." His plan: to quickly bring the teaching pool back into shape so that children and adults can learn to swim there too.
Costs according to the sports officer: all in all around 100,000 euros.
Swimming is fun: With a smile on his lips, six-year-old Maximilian Schmidt mastered his seahorse in fresch.
© Michaelek
"The swimming courses here are currently fully booked," confirmed fresch boss Alexander Frederking.
At the same time, three courses a week are running at the same time, which, however, still cannot come close to covering the demand.
Another problem that the head of the swimming department at TSV Jahn Freising, Anna Becker, described: "40 percent don't make the seahorse at the first attempt." The result: These children do another course, but the queue for others is always there longer.
(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)
In order to at least counteract this a little, the fresch now also offers crash swimming courses, but the courses at Pentecost are already fully booked again.
"The need is simply very, very high," emphasized Frederking.
The question of why fewer and fewer children can swim is not that easy to answer.
Frederking's assumption: "The range of leisure activities has increased enormously, which means that swimming has simply gone a little out of fashion." According to Becker, there is still a "corona traffic jam" that is still being worked off, as well as an increasing number of additional courses for Afghan and Ukrainian children.
"We invest time and money in football, but not in swimming"
For Patricia Schmidt, herself a former competitive swimmer, it is "unfortunately not so great" that all the swimming courses are fully booked and that she was only able to find one for her son Maximilian with great difficulty.
The two had come to fresch from Huglfing (district of Weilheim) to spend a nice day at the beach.
Although the six-year-old has only been practicing swimming since the middle of the month, he spontaneously wanted to try the seahorse badge offered in Freising - with great success!
"Often the attitude of the parents is simply wrong, because time and money are invested in football, but not in swimming," says Patricia Schmidt.
also read
Sofija (16) fled Ukraine alone – now she has her mother back
Open-air film off!
There is once again a cinema on the campus in Weihenstephan
What is also important for Frederking: swimming badges can of course be made at fresch at any time.
"Just drop by and get started!"
Richard Lorenz
You can find more current news from the district of Freising at Merkur.de/Freising.
