Swimmer Brigitte Becue also raises the alarm: “School swimming under pressure”
Just about everyone who matters in the sector signed an open letter – Save the swimming – on the initiative of the Netwerk Lokaal Sportbeleid, an organization that supports municipalities in their sports policy, among other things. In it they denounce the problem of the shortage of lifeguards and the declining number of swimming pools in Flanders. Bodies such as Catholic Education Flanders and research groups of KU Leuven and VUB also signed the letter.
It is especially school swimming that worries experts: it is becoming increasingly difficult for children to learn to swim. School swimming is under pressure due to rising costs, and waiting lists at swimming clubs are also lengthy. The swimming world is calling for a master plan to turn the tide. It is a crisis too big to be left to the local level alone.
New swimming pools
A few new swimming pools have opened in our province in recent years, but it should be even better. There also seems to be support for this open letter from the Flemish Parliament. “Municipalities are not being financed today to keep their swimming pool open,” says Flemish Member of Parliament Brecht Warnez from Wingene. “That is a wrong choice by Flanders. More and more swimming pools are closing their doors as a result. Being able to swim is a necessity, a basic right, and therefore deserves Flemish funding.
“We need basic financing and a Flemish fund for building, but also maintaining and making swimming pools energy efficient. Every Flemish person must be able to (learn to) swim in his neighbourhood.”