Over 500 students of Albury Sayle Primary School are the beneficiaries of pencils, water safety coloring and activity books, and posters compliments of Andy and Nancy Knowles of Let’s Swim Bahamas. The books and posters were presented to teachers during an assembly at the school on Nassau Street, Tuesday, March 17.

During a brief pep talk, Andy Knowles, Olympic swimmer and coach, told the students that it is important for more Bahamians to learn to swim not only to become competitive swimmers, but for safety, enjoyment and appreciation of the beautiful waters surrounding The Bahamas. 

Recognizing the importance of swimming lessons and teaching children water safety rules, Let’s Swim Bahamas began a pilot program at Thelma Gibson Primary School in 2008 and has since spread to 17 government primary schools.

In addition to distributing reading material, the program provides free swimming lessons to government primary school children during which they are taught the fundamentals of swimming by Swim America certified coaches.

The book entitled ‘Snorkel and Tim go for a Swim’ includes advice on water safety, boating safety, pool safety, what to do if you or someone else falls in the water and more.

Let’s Swim Bahamas plans to distribute the books to over 26,000 primary school children in government schools during the school year.