Five-time world champion Camille Lacourt, and Laura Tremble, finalist in synchronised swimming at Tokyo , were also present, along with children, to lend their support to this second round of the programme. Launched in summer , it offers free swimming lessons to children in mobile pools in deprived areas, or in pools that are usually closed or only open for bathing. With the support of Paris partner EDF, the scheme is expanding this year: sessions are being run in 29 communes across France, with the aim of reaching some 5, children.
The first mobile pools opened on 4 July. Also, additional time slots will be opened up at 23 existing pools, through projects spearheaded by the Paris municipal authorities and the Seine-Saint-Denis local authorities.
With this rollout, we hope to teach 5, children how to swim in summer The Paris Games will leave a lasting aquatic legacy in Seine-Saint-Denis: over 20 pools will be built for the Games, and when the Games have come and gone, they will be there for local residents to enjoy. Free swimming lessons were offered, every day of summer, to children aged between 4 and 12 up to the age of 18, in the case of disabled children and adults who had never learned to swim.
Specific time slots were reserved for children whose disability meant they required special attention. The organisation of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris offers a unique opportunity to promote the development of physical activity and sports — in particular, learning to swim.
Each year, the figures on deaths by drowning offer a stark reminder that knowing how to swim is not merely a matter of pleasure and leisure — it is a matter of public safety, which reflects the inequalities blighting society and certain geographic areas: children from deprived backgrounds are rarely given swimming lessons.
