TSV Gruiten received recertification as a swimming school in January.
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Haan – Would you like to swim in the bathing lake or in the sea or go to the swimming pool? What was taken for granted a few years ago is no longer the case today. Because around 50 percent of children cannot swim by the end of elementary school. That is why the NRW swimming association, together with the Ministry for Schools and Education, the DLRG Westphalia and North Rhine and the DRK, launched the state program “NRW can swim” in 2008, in which the clubs belonging to the NRW swimming association are called upon to take swimming courses to offer during the holidays.
There is also “SchwimmGut” – the certificate for quality swimming training.
“There are many offers for swimming lessons – by no means enough – but many. Unfortunately, there are also providers who do not have any quality standards. Instead, keywords such as ‘seahorse guarantee’ or ‘express courses’ are advertised,” explains Sonja Reidenbach from the NRW swimming association. With the certificate, the state association is committed to ensuring that binding, objectively comprehensible and transparent standards are established and are recognizable to the outside world.
The swimming department of TSV Gruiten has been certified according to these standards since 2020. Six months ago, the association was checked again and only received the recertification certificate and an education voucher for 150 euros from Sonja Reidenbach. “Swimming school at TSV is very orderly, which is by no means a matter of course,” emphasizes Reidenbach.
The certification conditions include, for example, that the swimming school is managed by a trainer who has at least the C license of the association. In the case of TSV Gruiten, Vadim Tsypkin is responsible. And because he is also a teacher at the primary school in Bollenberg, it is not surprising that the school has a cooperation with TSV Gruiten, which not only promotes children who cannot swim, but also challenges particularly talented children. For example, water times are shared.
Another criterion that must be met in order to receive the certificate is that all trainers and helpers at the pool edge or in the water in the area of beginner swimming must be qualified by the state swimming associations and regularly take part in further training. Group sizes must not exceed six children per group per instructor, and the swimming school offers regular swimming lessons throughout the year.
The swimming department of the TSV currently has four beginner groups with children from the age of 5, as well as a performance group and a junior group. The department has a total of 170 members.
Vadim Tsypkin has been working in and for TSV Gruiten since 2017, but can look back on a long time in clubs.
E www.tsvgruiten.de
