New lifesaving club takes its first breath
The club is in the final stage of affiliation with Lifesaving South Africa, and will hopefully compete with other surf lifesaving clubs in surf and stillwater lifesaving championships from the 2016/2017 season.
ON Sunday, 28 February, Reunion Aquatics Lifesaving Club started its first voluntary duty and lifesaving training at Isipingo Beach.
Reunion Lifesaving Club, based at Reunion Park, was formed by Welcome Kweyama who is education and development officer in KwaZulu-Natal South Lifesaving Association, together with other surf lifesavers, among them club chairman Pieter Henderson, club vice chairman Denziel Reddy and assisted by Henk Lotz in secretarial tasks, to name a few.
Reunion Lifesaving Club is almost three-weeks-old but it has already recruited 20 lifesaving candidates for lifeguard training, over 30 nippers and has 17 qualified lifeguards. It has been approached by 12 lifeguards who are willing to renew their awards and get back to lifesaving, as there is now a lifesaving club closer to them.
Welcome conducted a training session on the beach while Pieter and Denziel organised meals and other necessities for duty squad after training. Nipper parents were also present to show support to their children and the club as a whole.
Denziel has also approached four schools in the Isipingo area, whose scholars will be trained by Welcome at the Isipingo Hills swimming pool. Other training programmes will be conducted at Inyoni swimming pool by powercraft officer, Prince Makhanya, and Illovo swimming pool by Nhlanhla Mputi. This lifesaving movement will transform the lives of many children, especially from townships such as KwaMakhutha, Illovo and Uganda squatter camp as well as Dakota.
The club has also been assisted by Risky Gumede, municipal manager of amenities and Superintendent Jace Govender, with regards to compliance with council regulations as well as ensuring that the shelter is available to the club for meetings and duties, Jace Govender has also made an effort to help source donations of equipment for the club, to ensure that the squad has sufficient rescue equipment according to LSA standards and municipal inspection criteria.
The club is in the final stage of affiliation with Lifesaving South Africa, and will hopefully compete with other surf lifesaving clubs in surf and stillwater lifesaving championships from the 2016/2017 season. Prospective members are more than welcome to join, and they can visit the training sessions on Sundays and public holidays at Reunion Park, where they will find the relevant information, and see what training entails.
Call Welcome on 084-635-2624 for more information on how to join and other club information.
