Swim to Live!

During the Swim to Live project we have promoted voluntary activities in sport, along with social inclusion, equal opportunities and raised awareness about the importance of health-enhancing physical activity through increased participation in, and equal access to, sport for all.With this project we have expanded swimming activities, knowledge and experience to other European countries. We see a great opportunity in spreading the knowledge and love for swimming to previously non-active people by simply engaging them. During the one year project we have educated swimming instructors and club leaders and provided 5-10 people (per partner country) free swimming lessons for up to 6 months and most of them have started loving swimming as much as we do and are continuing with their training after the project has ended. In June 2017 we have also organised a weekend event (an educational seminar, together with a night swimming competition) in Ljubljana for our partners and also other interested individuals. Our project included and connected all groups of people – people with and without disabilities, young and old, masters swimmers with a lot of experience and beginners - and encouraged them to become physically active or be even more involved in sport. During this project we have, with the use of our interactive web portal and other social media, promoted regular physical activity, taught how to teach, how to use modern technologies, how to promote regular activity and combined altogether with swimming courses for locals. This is a novelty in swimming approaches. The main steps of the project implementation:- we have increased social inclusion through sport (people can join an established collective of like-minded people), - we have promoted equal opportunities in swimming (anyone can join, healthy or not, with or without disabilities, young or old, male or female),- we have encouraged people to enhance their physical activity and improved their physical well-being. Developing a certificate of competence, a “Swim to Live” licence for swimming instructors and club leaders. They have received different practical tasks and assignments to gain the “Swim to Live” licence.Swimming instructors have gained knowledge about teaching everybody, no matter how their previous physical abilities were. They gained competencies in the fields of working with swimmers of different abilities, learnt how to deal with problems, how to teach different age groups and use different motivational strategies.Club leaders have learnt about how to promote good practices and multiply their influence on the local environment. Because of the project, local people are better informed about regular physical activities, especially swimming. Club leaders have learnt about promotion, marketing and leading groups of instructors. We have engaged professionals from the field of sport, marketing and psychology, who hosted a series of webinars.At the same time we shared ideas, asked questions and posted comments on social media and on our interactive portal.The Swim to Live ManualThis manual is the epilogue of this year’s project. We have collected practical and theoretical knowledge from different fields regarding our project (kinesiology, pedagogy, coaching, psychology, special needs). The manual also includes chapters about practical guidelines, good examples, good practices, articles of renowned experts, a guide how to organise such a project, practical experience of intercultural dialogue and social inclusion through sport. It also provides information on how to promote an active lifestyle and information about practical use of our project that other countries can use in similar activities all over Europe.