Cape Town - The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) scooped an international award for its survival swimming centres it launched earlier this year.
The organisation won the International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF) Award.
According to the NSRI’s Drowning Prevention Manager, Andrew Ingram, it wants all children to learn to swim early not only for their safety but also for their enjoyment.
However, with alarming drowning statistics across the country, not everyone can afford swimming lessons and access to safe, clean water to swim in is a real challenge.
This sparked the NSRI to launch its survival swimming centres.
The first centre was launched in March in Riebeek Kasteel in the Western Cape and the second in September in Tombo Village in the Eastern Cape.
Tombo Village has the highest drowning statistics in the province.
“It’s an amazing win for the NSRI, especially being at the Southern Point of Africa to be up against some of the wealthiest rescue services in the world. It’s a real feather in our cap to have won in the category of Innovation and Technology again,” Ingram said.
He said the many ideas the organisation has, show the ability of the NSRI volunteers and staff to come up with new ideas that make a huge difference to South Africans.
“When it comes to the Survival Swimming Centres (SSC), what we were trying to achieve is to give free swimming lessons to disadvantaged children in safe water.
“There are two problems with swimming lessons: the first one is that you need to be able to teach children or adults in water that is safe so that they are not going to be harmed by currents, structures in the water, and dirty water.
“Secondly, you need to make the lessons affordable because most people in South Africa cannot afford to pay for swimming lessons,” Ingram said.
The SSC is a six-metre-long swimming pool built in the back of a 12-metre shipping container.
The container is self-efficient and includes hi-tech monitoring equipment to ensure safety and high-quality water.
“We can afford to do so because of the donations and sponsorships we get, which allows us to train survival swimming instructors and water safety educators and then deploy them to areas that can’t afford such privileges in our country,” Ingram said.
The NSRI is no stranger to receiving IMRF Awards. In 2016 they were runners-up for an Outstanding Team Contribution in recognition of their water safety lessons for children. In 2018, their Pink Rescue Buoys won the Innovation and Technology section. In 2019, they were runners-up for the purpose-designed rescue stretcher, and in 2021, they were awarded the winner in Innovation and Technology for the JetRIB, a revolutionary surf rescue craft made by Admiral Powercats and Droomers Yamaha with NSRI.
“The SSC project would have been completely impossible to do as a money-making concern, but because we have so many generous sponsors within the swimming and constriction companies, we are able to do it. Our containers are donated. The circulation filtration systems are donated; the swimming pool is donated, and so on,” Ingram added.