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Clubs and swimming schools hope for an end to the “dry season”

2022-06-20T08:06:22.675Z


At the end of June 2019, the Penzberg wave pool was closed. It will take at least until spring 2023 for the new family pool to open. Clubs, swimming schools and baby swimming are eagerly awaiting this. For three years they have been trying to bridge the long "dry period" in Penzberg, but this is difficult.


At the end of June 2019, the Penzberg wave pool was closed.

It will take at least until spring 2023 for the new family pool to open.

Clubs, swimming schools and baby swimming are eagerly awaiting this.

For three years they have been trying to bridge the long "dry period" in Penzberg, but this is difficult.

Penzberg

– Andrea Brandl used to teach children to swim in the Penzberg wave pool.

She estimates that there must have been over 1,000 boys and girls within five years.

This has not been possible to this extent since then.

She moved to Kochel with her swimming school “Schwimmen wie ein Fisch” (Swim like a fish).

The effort is greater because of the distance.

And times are limited.

Andrea Brandl can only offer courses one afternoon a week.

She estimates that she has 80 percent fewer swimming students.

It is important that children learn how to swim safely, she says.

Parents are desperately looking for courses.

Marc Lehmann, head of the Penzberg-Iffeldorf water rescue service, can confirm this.

The water rescue service also used the wave pool for training.

She is currently training in Bad Tölz.

So far it has worked quite well, says Lehmann.

Unfortunately, there are far fewer children and young people.

He attributes this primarily to the corona pandemic, but the long journeys also have an impact.

There used to be 30 to 40 children and young people, now there are just ten.

A swimming pool on site would of course be cheaper, he says.

You can still bridge it until spring, but after that it will be more difficult.

Lehmann is glad that the city supports the water rescue service.

She receives a subsidy for travel and entrance fees.

The Oberland swimming community also receives grants from the city.

"Without the funding, the club would have collapsed," says Ingo Krüger, second chairman and coach.

The club is currently training in Weilheim and Kochel.

The effort is great, and there are fewer children training in Kochel than in Penzberg, he says.

The club also lacks the youngsters from the elementary schools that have canceled school swimming.

On the other hand, there is a waiting list, but the demand in Kochel cannot be met.

Krüger says that there were fears that many could jump off.

Luckily it wasn't that bad, also because you have a bus.

However, the competition group can only train two times a week instead of four.

The old level of performance, he says, can therefore not be maintained.

Not everyone believes in a punctual reopening

Karin Sonnenstuhl is also struggling with the “dry season” in Penzberg.

She runs the water aerobics at TSV Penzberg.

You used to think about opening a second group because of the immense demand.

That's passé for now.

The water aerobics are currently taking place in Kochel.

For many older people, the effort is too great because of the long distance, according to Sonnenstuhl.

She is happy that she was allowed to go to the "Trimini" in Kochel.

She didn't have much choice when it came to times.

Another major drawback is that she is not allowed to go to the "Trimini" during the main holiday season, when many tourists come.

And the entrance fee is "not quite as cheap" - although the price of the pool was more favorable to her.

The city of Penzberg also pays the TSV a subsidy.

Sonnenstuhl currently has 15 to 20 participants, fewer than in Penzberg before.

For more than 20 years, Angelika Kottmann has been offering baby swimming, privately organized.

Like Brandl's swimming school, it does not receive a bridging grant from the city.

In the wave pool there were 15 to 17 groups per week, each with eight babies and small children.

At the moment there are four groups each in Kochel and Lenggries.

At most, she still has half the participants, and she also has to turn down many requests, says Kottmann.

Brandl felt the consequences while swimming as a child.

Many children are not used to water.

The wave pool was also important for the Penzberg rehabilitation sports club.

He offered water aerobics five hours a week, for example for people after disc surgery or with an artificial hip.

The city, especially Ulrike Franz, was extremely helpful in finding another pool, says chairman Josef Christ.

The club is now in Kochel two hours a week.

But this also means long distances and higher entrance fees.

Meanwhile, however, Christ is very angry with the city.

At first there was a subsidy for the additional work, but under the new mayor it no longer worked.

"It's difficult for a small club that's struggling to survive," he says.

Everyone is hoping that the new family pool will open in spring 2023, as announced, and that they will then have enough time.

She also wishes, according to Andrea Brandl, that the children do not freeze in the water and that everyone can stand.

And the entrance fees should be moderate.

"That everyone, from pensioners to families, can afford them," adds Karin Sonnenstuhl.

"I'll be happy when the time comes."

Josef Christ, on the other hand, is skeptical.

At the gym on Josef-Boos-Platz, the city also said that you could go back in soon.

That was seven years ago, sport is not practiced there to this day.

Christ does not believe that the pool will open in spring 2023.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-06-20

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