“We hope to create a swimming culture amongst the children and teachers who we have taught how to swim. The skills the teachers will gain will allow them to teach upcoming students how to survive in water,”
In December 2024, while visiting family in Kuruman, Reagan Gellant received a phone call that no parent should have – his nine-year-old son suffered a non-fatal drowning incident at Meiringspoort and was being rushed to the hospital. Reagan later learned that his son’s life had been saved by a doctor who happened to be at the scene and could administer emergency care on the spot.
For many students at Rhodes University, learning to swim has never been a simple or accessible opportunity. Despite the presence of a campus swimming pool, many students have had little or no exposure to swimming lessons or water safety education, while others have always wanted to learn but never had the chance.
When 335 young people gathered at the recent Western Cape Scouting-in-Schools leadership development Camp, they expected just a week of Scouting, leadership and fun. With the support of the NSRI, many left with an additional life skill that could save lives: confidence in the water. And, for over a hundred, the beginning of a potential future in water safety, lifeguarding and volunteering with the NSRI.
When Petro Meyer joined the NSRI on 1 September 2018, she couldn’t have imagined she’d one day be teaching in a swimming pool that arrived inside a shipping container. But her enthusiasm had already put her ahead of the curve.
On 8 December, the still waters of Elandsberg Dam rippled with laughter, courage, and determination. It was the National Sea Rescue Institute’s annual survival swimming exercise for children who graduated from the Riebeek Kasteel Survival Swimming Centre – a day when safety met community spirit and young learners put the lessons they had practised in a container pool to the test in a dam.
Every summer, thousands of South Africans head to the coast to enjoy the sea. Yet few realise that one of the ocean’s most dangerous forces can form right where they want to swim.