Wandsworth Amateur Swimming Association

Hi, my name is Luke Deasy and I am fundraising for Wandsworth Amateur Swimming Association Disability Swimming Club (WASA_DS). I am swimming 2.5k on the 26th of April in the National Swimathon. The Swimathon fundraises for cancer research and my entry has supported that worthy cause. However I am also swimming for WASA_DS and I am fundraising for this charity.

Please help me raise the money to fund the training of two instructors for WASA Disability Swimming

WASA Disability Swimming is a not-for-profit programme which offers swimming instruction to children between the ages of 6-18 with a wide variety of disabilities, helping them to swim and enjoy the water to the best of their individual level of ability.

In addition to regular lessons for children, the club offers a Supported Family Swim for swimmers who are 19-25, during which parents can swim with their young adults and other family members, supervised by teachers.

The club’s goal is to get everyone in the water safely and enjoyably. To this end, they also encourage parents and siblings to swim during the session when there is capacity, and can sometimes offer instruction to parents who would like to be able to swim confidently with their children.

WASA_DS benefits more than just the disabled swimmers. Their families, the young people who become teachers and the senior teachers who mentor and support them all get something out of it. The swimmers learn to love the water. Parents and siblings can swim for relaxation and exercise, or to gain confidence. Parents meet other parents on poolside to exchange resources and support. Teachers gain valuable experience working with a varied range of people. Training and mentoring are provided both within the sessions and outside, as teachers are encouraged and supported in obtaining professional accreditation.

The club keeps the swimmers' fee as low as possible and rely on volunteers, donations, support from Enable (Wandsworth Council) and fundraising.

Instructors are drawn from competitive swimming clubs, professional swimming teachers, volunteers from the Duke of Edinburgh Award programme and other volunteering organisations. The 30-minute sessions are taught one-to-one, often with a second instructor.

It costs £100 to train an instructor and I will be swimming 100 lengths in the pool during my 2.5k swim. I had my first swimming lesson when I was eight weeks old and every lesson and training session over the past ten years have made me feel happy and confident and given me the skill to undertake this challenge. I want all children to get to experience those feelings and benefit like I have in the water and to set their own swimming goals. My coach in swimming club (Wandsworth Swim Club), Cindy Hanegraaf, has led the training in WASA_DS, she is positive and kind and inspires confidence in all her swimmers.

Please help me raise the money to fund the training of two instructors, it will benefit so many children and I think is a very worthwhile cause.

from

Luke

Here is a short video of the swimming club

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB5vBydj8ls