Lapping it up in Laverton

Children in the Goldfields town of Laverton have been enjoying some fruity swimming fun during Term Four, taking part in the Go For 2&5 Swim for Fruit program. Swim For Fruit is run as a partnership between Royal Life Saving WA and Healthway, and encourages children in regional communities to swim laps at their local pool, rewarding them for their swimming efforts with a healthy afternoon tea following each session.

It’s a great extension of Royal Life Saving WA’s Swim and Survive program within Aboriginal communities as we work to address concerning drowning statistics among Aboriginal Australians – children in particular – through increased swimming and water safety education in regional and remote areas of the state. Data shows that Aboriginal children are 9.6 times more likely to be involved in a fatal drowning incident than non-Aboriginal children in WA.

Laverton is a town in the Goldfields-Esperance region, on the western edge of the Great Victoria Desert, 957 kilometres north-northeast of Perth. About 20% of the population is of Aboriginal descent. Local Pool Manager Janine Rowe says the children have thoroughly enjoyed getting involved in Swim for Fruit this term. “The kids have had a great time swimming their laps and also playing the Healthway Rate Your Plate game. We conducted 18 sessions of Swim 4 Fruit over the term.”

The younger children in Laverton were particularly enthusiastic participants, with the highest number of laps completed by a child in the Under 10s group, who did 370 laps of 10 metres across the leisure pool throughout the term. The older children, in the Over 10s group, had to complete 25 metre laps, with one child completing that distance 216 times over Term Four!

We look forward to seeing Swim For Fruit return in Laverton and other communities across regional WA in 2022. You can find out more about Swim for Fruit at the link below.