Children in some parts of the country are spending up to three years on waiting lists before they can start swimming lessons, a mother has said. 

Learning to swim is an essential life skill that can often save a person’s life. 

However, columnist Deirdre McArdle from East Cork said she often heard “horror stories” of children in her community who had to wait three years to begin their lessons. 

“I suppose I naively thought when my daughter started school in September that I could just put her name down on the list and the next term she’d get the call and then I realised, actually, it’s not like this at all,” she said. 

Lack of infrastructure

Deirdre said her fellow parents were “pretty much laughing at me” at her naivety and she feels the lack of infrastructure is to blame for the long waiting lists. 

“In the East Cork area, where I’m based myself, the facilities are limited really,” she said. 

“Too many people and not enough pools.” 

Currently, children can apply to have their children taught in groups of up to 10 for six weeks at a cost of up to €85 for six weeks. 

Sometimes, private lessons can be arranged but these cost €180 for a week course and Deirdre described them as “the holy grail of swimming lessons”. 

Lunchtime Live listener, Deirdre, who is also based in Cork, said she feared her three children have fallen behind where they should be because the pandemic disrupted so much. 

The family is based in Bandon and have a “top class” swimming pool nearby but there is a high-level of demand for it. 

“Our nearest swimming pool in Dunmanway, which is half and hour away, and the situation there is that you can book a block of five lessons for 50 euro - which is amazing value - but it’s trying to get in,” she said. 

“They don’t have a waiting list, you have to literally be on the phone. 

“I called 300 times one morning to try and secure a block of five lessons and wasn’t successful.” 

Child being taught to swim.

Deirdre is now exploring alternatives - such as hiring a pop-up pool that they could use during the summer. 

“There’s a group of us, a committee, that has been looking into a pop-up swimming pool provided by Swim Ireland,” she said.

“They are aware of the problem and they are trying to meet the need of the lack of lessons by providing this pop-up swimming pool.” 

A survey carried out by Aura Leisure found that one in five Irish people said they did not know how to swim at all.

Main image: Children being taught to swim. Picture by: Alamy.com