Austswim Ambassador and Olympic swimmer Brooke Hanson helped launch the Mate Program and said the aim remained the same; to make access to aquatics easier for people living with a disability, medical condition or injury.
“With one in six people in Australia now living with a disability, the need for the program is greater than ever,” she said. “There are so many developmental, physical, psychological and emotional impacts swimming provides.”
Car crash survivor Ella Anwar knows the healing power that water has for people with a disability or injury.
Two years ago, aged of 20, she suffered a major brain injury, with doctors saying she would never have mobility again.
“The doctors told Mum I only had a 10 percent chance of survival, so it’s a miracle I’m here but getting in the water made all the difference,” she said. “I could do things in the water that I couldn’t do on land. I was swimming all the strokes four months after my injury yet I couldn’t talk or walk yet.”
Ella said the program was so important because it helped people with a disability or injury like herself: “Being in the water made my comeback on land much easier and gave me back independence.”
Details: austswim.com.
Healing pool for disabled
WATER safety advocates are celebrating a decade of diversity with the Austswim Making Aquatics A Terrific Experience (Mate) workshop quadrupling course numbers and offering it nationally for the first time, including at Ruth Everuss Aquatic Club in Lidcombe this Saturday.