These desert lifeguards want more remote swimming pools to be reopened, revitalised, and maintained to unlock the many benefits they offer.
The clear blue pool is the only place to swim for hundreds of kilometres in the Central Australian bush, besides waterholes, that aren't always full.There's evidence swimming in chlorinated water reduces infections and also improves school attendance because children can't use the pool unless they're in class.Her son, 18-year-old son Ishmael Windy, has started working with her at the pool and her two-year-old son, Richard, is already learning to swim.
The operating model employs and trains local people, and engages experienced volunteers as additional support.Kurt started working in remote communities after missing out on qualifying for the Olympics by 0.2 of a second in 2016, so he's still got friendships and connections among the swimming elite.
"I've had messages from remote communities in Queensland, there's a few in South Australia, and there's probably a few more in Western Australia too. So our goal is to bring them all back." He points out running remote pools is expensive, from buying and transporting chemicals to paying staff, but he says the health benefits and social impacts outweigh the cost."We've got pools out at Kintore and other communities that external agencies are screaming at us to open that pool because skin, ear, and eye infections are going through the roof and they lead to long-term issues like rheumatic heart disease," he says.
Feelgood Remote Pools Project Lifeguards Solutions Journalism Utju Kurt Herzog YMCA Public Pool The Bright Side Public Swimming Pools
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