The Hindu : Sport : KSA’s bid to make swimming safe

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Sunday, Jun 01, 2008
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KSA’s bid to make swimming safe

Kalyan Ashok

BANGALORE: The Karnataka Swimming Association is in the process of preparing a draft proposal to the State Government for adopting safety measures in pools in the city.

“We are very concerned with the standard of safety in pools and also about the mushrooming of training centres, which hardly have any qualified coaches and we have decided to tackle this in the interest of the public,” said Mr. T.D. Vijayaraghavan, secretary of the KSA, in a chat with The Hindu here.

The KSA official’s fears certainly has basis. Though most of the pools in the city, which are run by private clubs such as BAC, KCR and PMSC, maintain high safety norms.

However, several new centres have sprung up, including those in apartment blocks. In the past couple of years, there have been instances of fatal drowning of novices in such pools, including one in an apartment complex.

Several new apartments in the city have gone in for a pool, without adopting any safety measures and operate without a life guard or coach.

Training centres have also become a lucrative business and a couple of new centres, which lack adequate staff as well as safety standards, have sprung up in the city.

“Swimming is a great sport and a wonderful pastime, but it needs proper and scientific training and the pool staff should be a qualified bunch to take care of the needs of the users, including the quality of water and safety of the swimmers. We aim to devise a set of guidelines for all pools including those in apartment blocks and water parks. The KSA also would offer training facilities. Also on the anvil are workshops and seminars,” said Mr. Vijayaraghavan.

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