YCIS Puxi swimmers make a splash at events
Swimming is a fantastic way to exercise and its benefits are numerous. Many children begin learning how to swim from a young age with their families or by taking formal lessons. Students at YCIS Shanghai, Puxi have the chance to begin swimming at school in Year 1.
The aim is to get children in the pool as early as possible, so they are comfortable in the water and develop a passion for a different type of exercise. But not only is swimming wonderful for exercise, it is also a chance to learn vital life skills. Alongside in-pool swim training, Primary students learn personal survival and poolside rescue skills. In Secondary, students also learn in-pool rescue and lifeguarding. These skills have applications far beyond the swimming pool and will serve the students well throughout their lives.
A YCIS Shanghai student swimmer
Students compete in the recent swim meet at YCIS Shanghai, Puxi’s ECE campus.
Although an individual sport at heart, YCIS Puxi’s swimming program focuses on combining exercise and learning valuable skills, with creating a social environment where teamwork is always encouraged.
“Being part of the swimming teams here is a whole team effort — we don’t just focus on individual success,” said YCIS Puxi Aquatics director Annie Wright. Furthermore, the students are seeing the benefits of a health-and-safety-based approach.
“Not only do they love being in the pool, the students also enjoy learning important life skills,“ added Wright.
YCIS Puxi’s swimmers are already making waves in the water. Earlier this month, two teams from YCIS Puxi took to the pool in a friendly meet — as part of the Shanghai Changning International Sports Amateur League — hosted in collaboration with The Expatriate Centre at the YCIS Puxi Early Childhood Education (Ronghua) Campus pool. The participants, who came from international schools, bilingual schools, and swimming clubs in Changning District, formed the 11 teams that took part on the day. The YCIS teams produced a large number of personal best times and awards. With students of different abilities, ages and experience levels participating, the focus was on building team camaraderie as well as personal improvement.
In early November, a number of YCIS Puxi Primary and Secondary swimmers will represent the school at a meet held at another international school in the city.
This highly competitive fixture requires qualification times to enter and features teams from across Asia. There will be a lot of talent on display in the pool that day, but, as always, YCIS Puxi’s students are looking forward to the challenge of swimming competitively, representing their school in the pool, and aiming to improve on personal and team successes.
