City pools gear up for summer rush

City pools gear up for summer rush
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: Starting on Wednesday, City Express will bring you a series on coaching camps in Bangalore.

The series will also offer tips on getting your children enrolled for competitive swimming programmes, and swimming as a exercise. Wih the mercury soaring in the city, swimming has become preferred recreation. The blue pools across the city beckon.

With the start of the summer holidays, pools are witnessing a heavy rush.

Swimming coaching camps are mushrooming and every swimming pool in the City has something to offer to enthusiasts.

“Children need something constructive to do during the vacation. And there’s no better exercise than swimming. Swimming is also a life-saving skill. Everyone must learn it,” says Nihar Ameen, chief coach, K C Reddy Swim Centre.

“Every year nearly 1,500 children are trained at our pool. The summer camps serve a dual function: We teach basic swimming and also use this as a talent hunt, where promising children will be picked and promoted for competitive swimming,” he said.

“Bangalore has a greater number of swimming pools than any other city in India. Bangalore also has one of the finest pool infrastructures in the country,” he added.

According to B Girish, assistant swimming coach, Basavangudi Aquatic Centre (BAC), awareness of swimming as a sport is increasing in India. “We receive more than a thousand applications for our summer batches,” he said.

“We have been providing summer coaching for more than two decades. Nearly 20 qualified coaches guide students at the camps. Each coach teaches 125 children in order to provide individual attention,” he added.

Girish has been associated with BAC for the last ten years.