Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

A cool way to stay in shape

A fun-filled exercise that not only helps in burning extra calories and save drowning persons but can also be a rewarding career option, writes B. MADHU GOPAL

PHOTOS: C.V. SUBRAHMANYAM

TIME TO TAKE THE PLUNGE A boy learning the back-float technique.

But for her ability to swim, Meghana would have drowned along with her parents and brother in the tsunami which hit the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in December 2004. The brave little girl kept herself afloat for days together and defied nature's fury to save herself from the jaws of death. She is the sole survivor in her family and an important eyewitness to the killer-waves that wiped out thousands of families.

You are sitting on the beach enjoying the waves. Suddenly you hear shrieks of a drowning person and want to help him. But, alas you don't know swimming and there is nothing you could do. The helplessness and feeling of guilt in such a situation is unimaginable.

Closer home, a school girl who learnt swimming saved the life of a doctor who accidentally fell into the deep end of the swimming pool at Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, a couple of years ago.

There are innumerable other instances which highlight the importance of swimming. One may dismiss accidents of that type as a rare occurrence. But then there are a host of other benefits that give swimmers an edge over others.

Cool splash

A coach teaching the basics to children.

Swimming is the best exercise that helps you in burning your extra calories while giving you respite from bearing the brunt of the scorching sun in summer. Children may shun other forms of physical fitness training but most of them jump at the prospect of a splash in the pool, especially during the summer holidays.

Once they become expert swimmers they can participate in competitions at the district, State, national and international levels or they can even take up careers in diving, which are highly rewarding. "A saturation diver can earn up to Rs.3.5 lakhs a month," says Ch. Gopinath, a professional diver.

There are quite a few pools in the city that offer training in swimming to children, women and men. But the ones which have been offering training to the public on a continual basis for the last several years include: the Aqua Sports Complex of Greater Visakha Municipal Corporation on the Beach Road and Dolphin Hotel. The other pools like Waltair Club, Rail Club, Navy, Steel Plant, HPCL and Palm Beach have restricted entry.

Best exercise

"Swimming is the best exercise in water, and a must for everybody. An obese person can skip in water for a 1,000 times, which he cannot on land. While there would be no pressure on his/her ankle or knees, he still loses weight. It provides flexibility to all parts of the body," says C. Kishen Chand, a swimming coach who has trained thousands of learners during the last two decades.

"While a person who exercises at a gym sweats a lot and could feel irritable, the swimmer also perspires but does not experience irritation as the water in the pool wipes the sweat immediately and it gives him a cool feeling in the hot summer. Swimming is beneficial to people with arthritis and for patients who have been advised physiotherapy," he says.

"We teach freestyle, back floating, sitting dive and standing dive during the 15-day training classes. The 15-day camp will enable the participants to learn the basics of swimming and an additional 10-day training will give them the much needed confidence," says R. Sam Sunder, swimming coach of Dolphin Hotel, who has been conducting classes for the past 11 years.

The hotel charges Rs.1,000 for children and Rs.1,200 for adults for the 15-day training. It has witnessed a five-fold growth in revenue through swimming during the past 10 years. Training is offered to three batches, of one-hour duration each, conducted from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. and again in the evening for two batches from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

"Swimming improves overall fitness, stamina, muscle flexibility and gives shape to the body," he adds.

Vizag' s distinction

A coach training women.

"About 100 people practice at the Aqua Sports Complex to take part in competitions. They participate in district-level competitions. One has to undergo training for three to five years to participate and win in national-level events," says M. Sanjeevan Nair, coach and president of the Rashtriya Life Saving Society.

"Vizag has the record of winning awards in the junior, sub-junior and senior level swimming competitions for the past six years. The only national-level medal winner in 2005 from AP was M.S. Divya from the city, who had bagged a bronze."

"Apart from this, children and adults enroll in summer camps as a hobby and an exercise. While adults are charged Rs.300 a month, children have to pay half that amount. The corporation is offering free coaching to children of municipal schools during summer," he adds.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail