SAFETY CAMPAIGN

Grey River Argus, 1 December 1938, Page 11

SAFETY CAMPAIGN

TEACHING 75,000 PEOPLE TO SWIM.

A NATIONAL IDEAL. An urgent appeal for volunteers 7 'as instructors'during the national “learn-to-swim” campaign this ' summer ha s been addressed'to swimmers and life, savers' by the National Committee of| Swimming and Life-saving, which is in charge of organisation. One thousand instructors’at least are required. This is the number promised to the Minister of Internal Affairs, ‘ the Hon. W. E. Parry, when he made a Government grant of £3OOO to the swimming and life-saving organisations toward the cost of increasing the security of New Zealand swimmers against drowning. The objective is to teach 75,000 people to swim during the season, with the main effort throughout February. It will be a big task, testing the sense of duty of swimmers and life-savers. They are most qualified to introduce tn tho honnfirc rvl CwirnWlH P*

I Those officials who pledged the cuI operation of the whole swimming and life-saving movement to the Minister'must have known they could rely j upon everyone connected with it. In spite of the excellent work done in past years, thousands of children, (even more adults than children, are 1 still unable to swim. Catching the I spirit of the campaign, the qualified should give these people their personal 1 interest and assistance in developing! them into competent swimmers. Guid-; ance will be received by volunteers* from professional coaches appointed .to torn' the Dominion. The Auckland branch of the Nation-' al Committee of Swimming and Life-, saving has already made a direct ap< peal to clubs in its district. Of the whole Dominion, the largest number of non-swimmers are within this dis-, trict, so the greatest proportion of instructors are heeded. Let it be hoped that Auckland swimmers and life-savers will respond to the call for help, and cause Auckland’s record to be in no way inferior to that of j any other district. Active co-opera-, 'tion will be a service to' humanity. | A screening of several swimming and life-saving films at the Auckland Teachers’ Training Collage- recently, was well attended. While watched with close interest by all, the Ulins,' except in one or two instances, were 1 a disappoinnment to those who have 'made a study of swimming and life-1 saving for instruction purposes. The life-Sfiving film, an American production,' demonstrating the methods advised by the United States Red Cross, showed'that these were’very different I from-those taught in New Zealand by ■the Royal Life-saving Society. I The films on swimming, one releas- | ed by the Amateur Swimming Association of England, and the other by the “News Chronicle,” for its annual “learn-to-swim” campaign, were obviously several years old and advocated means of swimming free-style and backstroke now /out-of-date; Only the section dealing with breaststroke could be endorsed. ft has been reported that swimming and life-saving films will be m ade in considerable quantities for the purposes'of the present national "learn-to-swim” campaign and of the New. Zealand Amateur Swimming Association’s bureau of coaching and instruc-. /tion. The sooner these films are pro-i '.duced, under competent guidance, the ( better, as the films seen recently will continue to be harmful by causing ' confusion as to what are the correct ■methods in swimming and life-saving.