Swimming lesson cut could ‘cost lives’

Swimming lesson cut could ‘cost lives’

8 April 2015

A SWIMMING teacher has warned there may be a fatality if the local council pushes ahead with plans to restrict private swimming lessons in Downpatrick.

Jonathan Hamiton-Cooper fears there will be a tragic accident on the local coastline if the council forges ahead with plans to ban private group lessons while significantly increasing charges for parents of children seeking one-to-one swimming tuition.

A furore erupted last week following news that the new Newry Mourne and Down Council planned to clamp down on private tuition in Down Leisure Centre and instead direct people to council-run classes.

Hundreds of parents reacted angrily to the proposal, warning that council lessons are difficult to access and are not suitable for all due to the large class sizes.

The reaction forced the council into a u-turn with councillors agreeing to maintain the status quo until June while considering a less controversial way forward.

Although the u-turn means group lessons may continue in the short-term, swimming teachers have warned they believe the council will attempt to push ahead with the changes in three months time.

Mr Hamilton-Cooper has warned the extension is most likely a “stay of execution” and says he expects the council to push ahead with the clamp down eventually. This, he warns, will affect children’s swimming potential across the district.

He said he had recently come across statistics demonstrating the poor level of swimming ability in Northern Ireland in comparison with other European countries with teenage boys most likely to be lacking in the potentially life-saving skill.

“If lessons become more difficult to access I fear there will one day be a serious accident,” he said.

“Swimming is one of the most important things you will ever learn to do in your life.

“If you can’t swim you can’t go on a boat, you can’t go on a jet ski on holidays, you are not going to be confident having your own children in the water one day.”

Elaine Cromie, who has run Flippers Swimming School from the local leisure centre for the past six years, says instructors are very grateful to those who have helped fight the changes and said she believes “parent power” will have great strength if it is maintained.

“We will fight the changes but we also need parents to fight on our behalf,” she said.

“This is an election year and if parents make their feelings known our politicians will have to listen.”

SDLP councillor Colin McGrath said “complete and utter” confusion surrounded a debate on the private swimming issue at a council meeting last week.

He said he had been extensively lobbied by parents who were very angry about being “double charged” for private lessons with the proposal that children seeking one-to-one tuition would face a new door “tax” of £4.80 so the council could “recover its assets.”

He said the council did not have any asset loss as a result of private lessons with both the student, parents and instructors paying normal entry fees in addition to a monthly rental incurred by the tutors.

“Children should learn to swim and we, as a council, should be doing everything in our power to encourage this,” he said.

“If the council offered one-to-one tuition it may have an argument, but the fact is that it does not offer such tuition and has no intention of doing so.”

Council director Michael Lipsett said the council was seeking to increase the number of lessons offered by recruiting more swimming teachers in order to better fulfil local demand. He said its intention was to offer the service “in house.”