Schwimmen lernen – Aber wann?
About the situation
Registration for swimming courses in Leipzig is currently facing significant delays due to limited capacity in the city's pools. Parents are experiencing wait times of approximately one and a half years for available spots in swimming courses. According to Andreas Bobrzik, the swimming warden of the Saxon Swimming Association and managing director of SV Handwerk, children are often registered at age four to learn swimming by ages five or six, but increasing wait times mean older children are now joining the courses.
Bobrzik criticizes the limited water surface available to clubs, warning of impending chaos. At the city's sports pools, which offer baby and toddler swimming, various swimming levels (Seepferdchen, Bronze, Silver, Gold), and adult swimming courses, all courses are fully booked until the end of 2023, some even into early 2024.
Demand and capacity
The high demand for swimming courses is not a result of COVID-19 closures, emphasizes Katja Gläß, a spokesperson for the L-Group. Even before the pandemic, swimming pools and course offerings were at 100% capacity. In 2021, 1,200 children and 300 adults completed swimming courses in Leipzig's sports pools.
Since the summer of 2021, SV Handwerk has been offering extra courses titled "Catching Up After Corona," which have been attended by 700 children.
Proposed solutions
Bobrzik argues that building new swimming pools, such as the one currently under construction in the Schönefeld district, is not enough to meet the growing demand in Leipzig. He calls for targeted measures, including:
- Extended swimming lesson times in schools
- Improved training for swimming instructors
- Construction of instructional swimming pools at newly planned elementary schools
Bobrzik stresses that without a coherent strategy, these issues will not be resolved. Despite presenting a detailed proposal to the city's School and Education Committee in late January, he has not received further communication from city officials.