The Emphasis On Learning How To Swim.

Certainly was the case for me growing up. Lessons paid for by the state (I presume) at the age of 11 or 12, carried out at Guildford Crescent-Great Fun-Pupils were put into three categories, the sinkers (like Me) Medium and those who were good swimmers. Retrieving a brick in your pyjamas etc.

I wonder why there isn't such an importance in being able to swim anymore? It certainly seems that way. Maybe it's because kids don't do some of the crazy stuff that we did, like swimming in rivers, lakes etc, or even playing near them. Not being able to swim had a bit of a stigma attached to it, i can remember being taunted and teased because i couldn't swim, and it meant that you couldn't join in with trips to Empire etc. Learning to swim was an imperative skill needed if you wanted to crack on with your mates during the holidays and weekends.

I was talking to someone the other day about those public address adverts aimed at kids. Remember Charlie the Cat directing that kid away from wrong un's, Poor old Jimmy climbing an electrical pylon to retrieve his frisby. Those messages were great, and they stuck with me, although we still took plenty of risks. They were saying that if you do something daft, them you might pay the price, which seems a bit harsh when it comes to Nonces in parks and the massive hole in the fence jimmy walked through in order to retrieve his frisby! Times have changed!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tuerto

Certainly was the case for me growing up. Lessons paid for by the state (I presume) at the age of 11 or 12, carried out at Guildford Crescent-Great Fun-Pupils were put into three categories, the sinkers (like Me) Medium and those who were good swimmers. Retrieving a brick in your pyjamas etc.

I wonder why there isn't such an importance in being able to swim anymore? It certainly seems that way. Maybe it's because kids don't do some of the crazy stuff that we did, like swimming in rivers, lakes etc, or even playing near them. Not being able to swim had a bit of a stigma attached to it, i can remember being taunted and teased because i couldn't swim, and it meant that you couldn't join in with trips to Empire etc. Learning to swim was an imperative skill needed if you wanted to crack on with your mates during the holidays and weekends.

I was talking to someone the other day about those public address adverts aimed at kids. Remember Charlie the Cat directing that kid away from wrong un's, Poor old Jimmy climbing an electrical pylon to retrieve his frisby. Those messages were great, and they stuck with me, although we still took plenty of risks. They were saying that if you do something daft, them you might pay the price, which seems a bit harsh when it comes to Nonces in parks and the massive hole in the fence jimmy walked through in order to retrieve his frisby! Times have changed!

---

The "Petunia" public information films were also very helpful.
"Oh look, he's decided to have a swim".

Would these ads reach the intended audience these days, after all what kid watches the telly ads these days.

I wonder if awareness is now part of the curriculum in school.
If not, it should be.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MacAdder

The "Petunia" public information films were also very helpful.
"Oh look, he's decided to have a swim".

Would these ads reach the intended audience these days, after all what kid watches the telly ads these days.

I wonder if awareness is now part of the curriculum in school.
If not, it should be.

---

The thing that struck me, looking back on them, is that they put a fair bit of responsibility on the kid not to take these massive risks. The only thing missing was a voice at the end saying 'Your Fault' :hehe: Not so great in encouraging businesses and Companies to carry out essential safety maintenance, but it did make me switch on when i decided to play on building sites without any safety fencing or play in rivers etc.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tuerto

The thing that struck me, looking back on them, is that they put a fair bit of responsibility on the kid not to take these massive risks. The only thing missing was a voice at the end saying 'Your Fault' :hehe: Not so great in encouraging businesses and Companies to carry out essential safety maintenance, but it did make me switch on when i decided to play on building sites without any safety fencing or play in rivers etc.

---

Sadly they seem to have been replaced with "where there's blame there's a claim" ads.

[QUOTE=Tuerto;5189095]Certainly was the case for me growing up. Lessons paid for by the state (I presume) at the age of 11 or 12, carried out at Guildford Crescent-Great Fun-Pupils were put into three categories, the sinkers (like Me) Medium and those who were good swimmers. Retrieving a brick in your pyjamas etc.

I remember not being able to swim but wanting to go sailing on Llanishen Reservoir with the scouts and the school. I was told you had to have passed the swimming test so remember the pyjamas test at Guildford Crescent. B1oody hell that was over 55 years ago!

Both my girls had lessons in school ( it was year 5 ) and the primary school had a standard that they had to leave being able to swim 10 M, so if they hadnt learnt in yr 5, then they had another go at the start of yr 6 and continued till the end of yr 6

my oldest is a part time swim teacher ( 2 nights a week after school, pay is fairly decent at 19 quid a hour ) the waiting list for our local pool is fairly long and to go to one of the " private swim schools " is a massive waiting list, people put them down when they are very young , so i think parents still want the kids to learn

I can remember our class in Pentrebane primary school being taken by bus to Guildford Crescent baths every school afternoon over a four week period. It didn’t cost my parents anything and, by the end of that period, you could count the number of non swimmers on the fingers of one hand. I can recall being quite nervous about the whole thing beforehand, but I was swimming within a week and had lost the fear of water I did have for life - although it was probably only about twenty or thirty yards, I was so proud of the red certificate I got for swimming a length, because it was the first time I’d ever got anything like that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

I can remember our class in Pentrebane primary school being taken by bus to Guildford Crescent baths every school afternoon over a four week period. It didn’t cost my parents anything and, by the end of that period, you could count the number of non swimmers on the fingers of one hand. I can recall being quite nervous about the whole thing beforehand, but I was swimming within a week and had lost the fear of water I did have for life - although it was probably only about twenty or thirty yards, I was so proud of the red certificate I got for swimming a length, because it was the first time I’d ever got anything like that.

---

I also went to swimming lessons at Guildford Crescent with Gabalfa junior school. I remember the bus taking us there, but I wasn't sure of the frequency or duration of it all, so thanks for mentioning it was over a four week period, that would seem about right.
The first lesson was a little bit embarrassing I recall. They put you into two groups - swimmers and non-swimmers, of which I was in the latter group. Not being able to swim even a couple of yards, meant I, and quite a few others, were issued with rubber rings.... that was incentive enough for me to want to learn.
By the end of the course, everyone in our age group could swim - I think that was a remarkable achievement by the instructors, and full-marks to the government minister who put forward the idea.

I can’t run, cycling hurts my arse too much but I love swimming, it’s my form of exercise and when we’re on holiday I spend most of my time in the sea.

Anyway to the point of my post (pre Covid) the number of people swimming dwindled so much that they closed my local pool. Quite often there were less than 3 of us in the pool in the evenings. Certainly seems to be of less interest than in the past.

I've never been able to swim at all but I love the water.