The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER hosting the most successful swim club - Swift Swimming for more than two decades - the husband and wife team of Andy and Nancy Knowles launched the “Let’s Swim Bahamas” programme in 2008 to cater to the primary school students.

Two years later, Let’s Swim Bahamas formalised an agreement with the Ministry of Education to promote free swimming lessons in four primary schools with Thelma Gibson and Sandilands Primary at St Andrew’s School and Adelaide and Gambier at Lyford Cay.

With the help of a private donor, the Let’s Swim Bahamas Foundation was formed as an integral success of the Let’s Swim Bahamas programme.

Now going into its 17th year, Let’s Swim Bahamas is presently working with 13 schools with sessions being staged daily during the morning hours of school at the University of the Bahamas, Betty Kelly Kenning Swim Complex and the South Beach pools.

While the latter two sites are under review due to renovations taking place, the participants are being bussed this year to and from their schools to the University of the Bahamas.

Joining Andy and Nancy Knowles are a group of certified coaches from the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, who have all passed their SwimAmerica programme, one of the most successful tried-and-tested learn-to-swim programmes.

Tito Hanna, one of the physical education teachers at the Eva Hilton Primary School, said each year their students have improved and there is a lot of interest from the parents. “You can see the progress with some of the children going from being scared to even out their faces in the water to them doing a lot of swim techniques on their way to swimming, so that in itself is progress.”

Ricardo Belle, a ten-year-old fifth grader from Eva Hilton, said in the year that he’s been a part of the programme, he’s certainly learned how to swim.

“These coaches are eager to push us to swim well and hopefully go on to swim at the Olympics,” said an “energetic” Belle, who participates in all sports his school.

He noted that when he entered the programme, he didn’t know how to swim, but from stage one, he’s progressed so well that he’s now on stage six.

There are ten stages to the programme, which includes the following:

1 - Bubbles; 2 - floats and glides; 3 - kicking; 4 - crawl stroke; 5 - freestyle; 6 - backstroke; 7 - breaststroke & butterfly; 8 - turns; 9 - lifetime strokes and 10 - individual medley.

Duranique Lightbourne, a Woman Marine at the RBDF, said when the Knowles approached them about coming and joining the programme, she was excited to assist.

“The programme is good. With me being able to teach the kids, I also learn a lot,” Lighrbourne said. “It teaches you different methods on how to teach the kids.

“For some kids, it’s better to show them than to tell them, so you have to learn the different methods and ways to communicate with them. It’s been a good experience so far for me.”

While she’s only been a part of the programme for one year, Lightbourne said it’s good to tap into the primary school system to teach the younger children how to swim, considering the fact that we are surrounded by water.

And William Lunn, who adds a different dynamic to the coaching core as a trauma counselor and basketball coach, who work primarily with adverse youth, said 

“I look for opportunities to teach young men and women why they are here through sports,” he pointed out. “So working here with Andy and Nancy came out of a desire to win souls for the kingdom of God.

“Andy decided to bring that same concept to swimming and he asked me to help out and that is why I am. here. It’s so necessary to help these children to learn how to swim.”

At the end of the sessions, Lunn said his goal is that the students will not only learn how to swim, but to gain a better perspective of who they are as citizens of the kingdom of God.”

Through the programme so far, Andy and Nancy Knowles have helped to instruct more than 5,000 primary school students in over 40,000 free lessons.

Several of the swimmers have joined junior sailing programmes; joined competitive swim clubs and water polo teams and have become lifeguards.