Ivan Lavrich – Swimmer

I have been coming to Halliwick Penguins Swimming Club for many years.  Here is a picture of me when I was on holiday recently.

The club is a swimming club designed for people who have a disability.  It was formed many years ago for people to come together and learn to swim.

We have a registrar each week, who takes people’s names as they come in and ticks them off in the book.  This is for safety reasons so that they know who is attending.  They do a good job.

We have our own swimming method and it teaches a swimmer safety in the water first.  Young children are encouraged to swim with their parents or guide.  There are also instructors and this is good for the swimmers who are unsure or need extra help.  We teach swimming “the Halliwick Penguins way”.  We do have more secure swimmers; those that do not need help with their swimming and they can swim in the lanes.

Once a year, the club holds a gala and swimmers take part.  The races are usually timed races (along with other events), swimmers being timed so that they can compete fairly according to their ability.  We also swim in local, regional and national galas, when we compete against swimmers at different clubs and venues.

We have a really good committee at the club* who do a very good job in organising all the events so that everything can run smoothly.  A few times a year and, especially near Christmas, we all meet up for a social get-together somewhere local for a meal.

I really enjoy swimming and the club and have made some good friends here!

* we didn’t pay Ivan to write this!