Swimming for fruit back on at the Warburton Pool

The Warburton Pool recently reopened for the season, and the local children were very excited to get back into the water and start participating in programs such as the popular Swim for Fruit initiative.

Warburton, an extremely remote community in the Goldfields that is located about halfway between Laverton and Uluru on the Great Central Road, has a population which mostly consists of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Royal Life Saving WA research shows that Aboriginal children between the ages of 5 and 14 are 8.6 times more likely to be involved in a fatal drowning than non-Aboriginal children in our state. 

The Go for 2&5 Swim for Fruit program, which is supported by Healthway, has been running in regional and remote communities for over ten years. The program provides an opportunity for children in these areas to improve their swimming and water safety skills while also learning the importance of eating a healthy diet.

Swim for Fruit began in Warburton for the first time during Term 4 of 2020 and proved very popular with the kids! The program encourages children to swim laps of the pool, or complete other aquatic activities, to earn themselves a healthy afternoon tea of fresh fruit following their swim. Individual lap tallies are kept, with participants able to earn themselves other prizes such as goggles, t-shirts or Swim and Survive packs.

“Even though the water is still a little cold, some of the kids were excited to be able to be back in the water and having a healthy afternoon tea of fresh fruit,” said Warburton Pool Manager Steve Girschik. Steve expects a lot more kids to participate in the Swim for Fruit program in the coming months.

Learn more about the Swim for Fruit program and its benefits at the link below.