It's Friday afternoon. A group of children are ready to start in the learn-to-swim group. The instructors introduce themselves to the children, who are looking towards the swimming pool with smiles on their faces. They want to get into the water as soon as they can.

– Let's go, the instructors shout, and all the children jump quickly into the water. Their shouts and happy faces show genuine happiness.

Both children and adults can be afraid of water. There can be different reasons for this. In children, for instance, it can be because adults have forbidden them to go near the water. So it is important for children to get used to water from an early age.

Isabella Wahlund, Jasmin El Mokri and Nouraldeen Kadhem lead the lessons. They teach children to swim right from the basics.

– Learning to swim is much easier if you take things gradually. I've been swimming since I was small, I know how much fun it is. So I want all children to learn at an early age, says Nouraldeen Kadhem.

The children practise dipping their faces under the water and blowing bubbles through their nose or mouth.

Nouraldeen's family came from Irak in 2008, when he was two years old. He learned to swim in Sweden.

– To begin with, swimming was just a hobby for me, but now it's a sport I love. Maybe I'll represent Sweden one day, Nouraldeen laughs.

He is best at crawl and backstroke over 50 and 100 metres.

Swimming is not just a sport that gives a good physical status, it can actually be the reason you survive some day, says Nouraldeen, and goes on:

– Being able to swim is a life insurance all children ought to have.

The number of drownings in Sweden has fallen year by year, but rose again in the summer as a result of bathing. In 2020 77 people drowned, of whom six were children. There were 68 drownings in 2019.

When should a child start learning to swim?

– I recommend a child to start learning to swim at about 4 years old. No previous training is necessary, says Jasmin El Mokri.

– In the learn-to-swim group the children get accustomed to water. When they are really confident in the water it 's much easier to learn to swim.

Ann Mårtensson has come along to the baths with her grandchild. She thinks it is important that children learn to swim att an early age.

– I love swimming, and I know how important it is. I want all children to be able to swim. It's something you can do in lots of places out of doors, especially when corona is rife.

Anders Wendel, chairman of KSLS, says that co-operation with Sparbanken Skåne is both exciting and very important.

– When we got this opportunity to co-operate we didn't hesitate for a second. It's great to be able to offer 180 children free swimming lessons. As a society we want to promote happiness through exercise, but also to help more people in our area to learn to swim, he says.

How are the swimming lessons going during the corona pandemic?

– Our lessons are continuing, subject to corona restrictions. We've adapted what we do to the recommendations we've been given. If any restrictions that apply to us are changed, we will follow them, of course.

– We're doing our utmost to maintain a safe milieu for both participants and trainers, says Anders Wendel.