Water babes soak up chance

Anne McLeod with some of the local babes learning to swim. Photo/supplied

The success of a joint initiative between Bayswim and McLeods to provide free swimming lessons to 1000 Tauranga babies has not only hit its target, but also led to other great water opportunities for local Aquababes.

Bayswim manager Sean Tretheway says the large influx of extra babies in the pool, thanks to the free term of lessons for 1000 locals, is fantastic on many levels, including the potential impact on New Zealand water safety statistics.

Sean is keen to keep up the momentum and, as a result, Bayswim is launching a new initiative to benefit Bay children and family budgets.

Next Saturday, September 26, will see free swimming for all Bayswim kids - locals can pay for swimming lessons and then visit either BayWave, Greerton, Memorial or Otumoetai pools any other time for free. This will continue over summer for children with paid membership.

"Now is not the time to be complacent about swimming lessons. After all, 61 people have drowned in New Zealand in the first half of this year. That's up almost a third on the same period last year," Sean says.

Tauranga's Anne McLeod agrees the safety aspect of children learning to swim cannot be underplayed.

"I believe swimming is the most important skill for children to learn in this country as we are surrounded by water," she says.

According to Water Safety NZ research, past participation in formal swimming lessons is associated with an 88 per cent reduction in the risk of drowning in one-to-four-year old children.

Anne was a competitive swimmer and has taught hundreds of local children to swim, including Moss Burmester.

Combining with Bayswim to bring Aquababes to the Bay was an initiative close to her heart, Anne says. "I love the way the BaySwim team has grasped this and run with it," she says.