Swimming lessons for 50,000 primary school students in Jiangxi

NANCHANG -- Head underwater, breathe out and head up, breathe in; more than 60 fourth-grade primary school students are swimming under the guidance of the coaches in the swimming pool of Xinyu city's Baoshi Park, East China's Jiangxi province.

"I didn't dare to swim before, but I always want to learn. Now I can learn to swim with my classmates during the summer vacation, which is my happiest time of the day," said Huang Xinlei, a 10-year-old girl.

"Through the swimming lessons, I believe that I will be able to master the skills during this summer vacation," Huang added.

The local government pays for the swimming training lessons for these students, and Baoshi Park is one of the 23 training sites in Xinyu city. This year, Xinyu city conducts swimming training for more than 16,000 primary school students.

This initiative, known as the "Splash Activities," is expected to train nearly 50,000 elementary school students from 2020 until the end of this summer vacation, according to the education and sports departments of the city.

On hot summer days, swimming is undoubtedly one of the most popular sports for teenagers, but student drowning incidents have often been heard during summer breaks.

"During the summer vacation, the children spend time at home watching TV or playing on mobile phones, which is bad for their health. But when they play outside, we fear that the kids might be going to the river," said Hu Qingmei, a parent of a fourth-grade student at Yifu Primary School in Xinyu city.

"It's great that the government organized these swimming training programs, which could ensure the safety of students," Hu added.

While teaching children to swim, Xinyu city has also trained hundreds of coaches for this initiative.