Douglas, Isle of Man – Browne Craine & Co (“Browne Craine”) is pleased to announce its partnership with the Isle of Man Swimming Association (“IOMSA”) and the Department of Education and Children (“DoEC”) by supporting an initiative that aims to train as many primary school teachers on the Island as possible to become an ASA level one trained swimming teacher.

Launched last year, the initiative aims to provide an introduction to swimming by providing teachers with the knowledge, skills and understanding of safe and ethical principles for teaching children to swim, enabling them to support more highly qualified swimming teachers. So far, the initiative has trained over 26 teachers from 21 primary schools.

“I can’t express how important it is for children to learn how to swim,” said Browne Craine’s managing director, Basil Bielich. “Swimming is an essential life skill, especially for those living on an Island like ours. I’m pleased that we have been able to work with the Isle of Man Swimming Association and provide the support to help teachers to attain their level one qualification in teaching aquatics.”

As part of the initiative, a competition was launched within each primary school to design a logo for the “reward badge” that children receive when they are able to swim 25 metres.

Charley Kneen from Victoria Road School won the competition with her design.

“I’d like to thank Browne Craine for their support,” said Angela Katz, Development Officer for the IOMSA. “Without support from companies like Browne Craine, we would not be able to continue to develop the sport. I would also like to congratulate Charley for designing a great logo and winning the competition.”

Photo- [L-R]: Charley Kneen and Basil Bielich.