Genesis Place is working on reintroducing swimming lessons for kids in Airdrie.

Swimming lessons are normally offered throughout the year, but were all cancelled and the program has been placed on hold due to COVID-19.

Learning to swim is one of the important life skills that is highly encouraged to help prevent drowning incidents.

Aquatics team lead Shawn Livingstone said they’ve been working to get lessons back up and running but COVID-19 does make it challenging.

“There are lots of restrictions with COVID-19 obviously, so we are still working through all those restrictions and working with our partners at the Red Cross and the Lifesaving Society to determine how we move forward with swim lessons,” he explained.

Livingstone adds there will likely be plenty of changes to how swimming lessons happen and group sizes for the lessons, but it’s a service they still want to provide.

“It’s a life-skill, certainly something we want the community to be able to participate in to learn that skill and keep themselves safe in and around the water,” he said. “Now, we just have the added challenge of being able to teach them that important skill and keep them safe from this virus too.”

Genesis Place said due to the complicated and ever-changing nature of the COVID-19 restrictions and requirements they aren’t expecting to start offering swimming lessons until October at the earliest.

 

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