– photo courtesy of Valasseril Swimming Club

Following the tragic drownings of 15 schoolchildren in his home town, an Indian man has started a swimming club that has seen more than 10,000 learn how to handle themselves in the water.

He’s narrowed down the introductory course, which focuses entirely on swimming for safety rather than for sport, to just 16 lessons that begins by removing the fear of the water and the river’s current.

It’s called the Valasseril River Swimming Club, and it now boasts thousands of members among the communities living along the Periyar river in the southwestern Indian state of Kerala.

It was created by Saji Valasseril, a humble furniture shop owner who, according to the Better India, was overwhelmed with grief following the overturning of a boat carrying a school class and its teacher in 2009. He started by teaching his children to swim, then his friend, then his friend’s children, then some from the neighborhood.

Soon the news spread that free swimming classes were available and the trickle of interest turned into a torrent.

“Most drowning cases reported here are of people boating close to the banks and not in the middle of the river,” says Saji. “You only need 16 days to learn how to remove your fear of water and save yourself from drowning.”

“All kinds of people come together, young and old, men and women, from diverse professions, backgrounds and belief systems. We don’t see any of those differences. No one is looked down or looked up, there’s only teaching.”

Saji Valasseril pictured center with the flag – photo courtesy of Valasseril Swimming Club

In the water of the Periyar, swimming lanes are formed by strings of floaties or tires which are separated based on difficulty level. Deeper lanes with a stronger current are playfully called the “doctorate lanes” while those under which the student can place their feet on the riverbed are called “Kindergarten.”

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All children have to be accompanied by a guardian who will be able to reach them from the riverbank in case something should happen. This, the Better India reports, has led to many of the guardians becoming club members themselves. Older folks, disabled, and the neurologically disordered have all learned to swim at the Valasseril club, which even attracts athletes.

Recently, one of its teenage students set a record in the Asian Book of Records for the longest open-sea swim by a minor. Another is preparing to swim the English Channel.

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Those who ‘graduate’ not uncommonly pull on a branded aquatic shirt as a volunteer teacher or lifeguard, reflecting how at 5:30 a.m. before the heat of the day sets in, and with the chorus emanating from the Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary nearby, there’s no place most would rather be.

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