One in, all in for primary swim carnival

KIDS from across the south of Tasmania are diving into the Interprimary Swimming Carnival — and the eight-day event is not only for the fastest swimmers.

The Hobart Aquatic Centre is hosting the Southern Primary Schools Sport Association event, which is being held from last Monday to next Wednesday to allow as many students as possible to compete. The carnival is for grade three to six students. About 300 students compete each day and 58 schools are represented.

Schools are divided into eight divisions. This is done to hopefully give all children the chance to further their swimming and enjoy the sport.

Organiser Georgie Dudgeon believes the carnival is a great way to get more children involved in swimming and it demonstrates how important the skill is in life.

“The carnival is not just about who is the best swimmer, but it also demonstrates to parents the importance of their child learning to swim,” Dudgeon said. “Some kids come along and get a shock at how good kids their age are at swimming and hopefully that motivates them to improve.

“At the end of the day swimming is an important life skill and the more kids we get involved and want to improve the better.”

The top swimmers over the eight days will be invited to attend the Champions Carnival on November 28.