It
was a moment of joy for parents, coaches and organizers of the month-long Swim
for Life Gambia project to see that three-quarters of the kids were swimming
from one end of the pool to another without any form of support.
Joyous
and to some extent amazing because the kids spent on 28 hours (14 days of two
hours) with the coaches to have perfected swimming styles, breaststrokes and
freestyle which they demonstrated on graduation day before an impressive crowd
made up of parents, dignitaries and onlookers.
Speaking
at the closing ceremony, the executive director of the National Sports Council,
Marcel Mendy, who deputised for the youth and sports minister hailed the
organizers of the ‘Swim for Life Gambia’ project, and then urged the swimming
association and other sports associations to take cue from this project.
“I
am delightfully satisfied with what I have seen here today because we were made
to understand that majority of these kids when they were coming here weren’t
able to swim. But what they have demonstrated here shows that the ‘Catch Them
Young’ is a possibility,” he said.
Marcel
however called on sports associations to spend more energy on developing
talents at an early age, saying it is wrong to wait until “our athletes reach
maturity age”.
He
said further: “If we are serious about winning, we must invest in developing
talents at an early age. If we are serious about winning gold, we must ensure
our athletes have the skills and techniques at a tender age. We all have a responsibility
to change the way we go about producing or developing talents if we are serious
about winning.”
Marcel
however used the occasion to call on the organizers to continue with the
project, saying: “If you leave these kids from this stage, they might go back
to where they were when they were coming into this project.”
For
his part, the director of quality control and licensing at the Gambia Tourism
Board, Mamodou Bah, said his office is open for any form of partnership to see
that the project continues to produce swimmers, lifeguards and a population not
afraid of water.
He
thanked the parents for entrusting the organizers of the Swim for Life project
with their kids and encouraged the organizers to come with more windows that
will allow many more children to partake in the life-saving venture.
The
secretary general of the Gambia Press Union, Saikou Jammeh, in his remarks,
said he was mesmerised by the skills demonstrated by the children, something he
said shows that when people and stakeholders cooperate, they can achieve a lot.
He
recalled the period when this idea was being conceived revealing that there was
a lot of skepticism on the success of the project, “but what is demonstrated
here has gone beyond my imagination,” he added.
The
president of the Sports Journalists Association of The Gambia and the president
of the Red Dolphins Life Guard Association, who are both members of the
organizing committee, called on stakeholders to come forward and support the
organizers to have the project continue.
They
were all unanimous in their call for sponsors to come and partners with the
organizers.
This,
according to the duo, will not only help save lives but will also nurture
talents for the swimming association.
The
children went home smiling and with certificates to indicate they have
completed the first phase of swimming, that can help them save themselves in
case of eventualities.
