Swimming & Adaptive Life-saving Techniques (SALT)
A learn to swim program for all Bahamians!
The children of The Bahamas should be able to enjoy the stunning marine environment that surrounds them with increased safety and confidence. As there is a high percentage of young children either afraid of the ocean and anything living in the ocean as well as the high percentage of non-swimmers Waterkeepers® Bahamas has introduced the SALT Programme to Bimini and Grand Bahama.
We want to ensure that people, and especially children, can swim, play and get to know their precious marine environment in conditions that are as safe as possible.
Since the programme’s inception, Save The Bays and Waterkeepers Bahamas have partnered with SwimTayka to offer free swim and life-saving training to Biminites and Grand Bahamians providing them with the opportunity to increase their self-assurance in and around the water.
SwimTayka sends qualified instructors into developing communities around the world to not only to teach both children and adults how to swim, a skill that could one day save their life, but also to educate them about caring for the open water and how to preserve it for future generations. The Bahamas programme includes modules that also teaches skills that can open the door to future jobs as lifeguards and swimming instructors.
The programme included instruction in:
- Basic water safety
- First aid and drowning prevention
- Environmental education
Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.
– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Number of kids taught to swim at Eco Swim Camp in Freeport and Bimini
(since 2018)
YES! WE NEED VOLUNTEERS – Requirements to Volunteer
- Volunteers must be at least 18 years old at the start of the program
- Must have experience and qualifying certification in one of the following:
- Youth learn-to-swim programs
- Lifeguard training
- Youth environmental education (emphasis on water)
- Must complete a criminal background check and be cleared to work with children
“When Bahamians start swimming in open waters at a young age, they develop confidence but just as importantly, they develop an appreciation for the beauty of the underwater world and all the marine life that they would never see up close and personal otherwise.”
