Katja Lindo, managing director of LA VILLA and ambassador for the Deutschland schwimmt foundation, had the idea of bringing Alexander Gallitz together with gwt Starnberg for Cross'n Chill.
For Gallitz, ‘being able to move safely in water is a fundamental right in Germany, regardless of social, cultural and health differences.’ Being able to swim well is simply ‘life insurance.’
The high proceeds of €1,356 were achieved because many people contributed: they rounded up their participation fees, LA VILLA donated part of the cocktail sales at the summer party and rewarded the minutes that the swimmers stayed under an hour on the course. The Grünwalder Academy, whose managing director Christian Geissler took part as a swimmer himself, added another €500, significantly increasing the donation total.
Learning to swim is more important than ever before, because during the coronavirus pandemic, many children did not learn to swim at all or did not learn properly. The number of non-swimmers in primary school rose rapidly, swimming lessons were not held for a long time, and many are still fully booked today. That is why Deutschland Schwimmt not only offers courses itself, but also creates transparency at swimming schools and educates parents with a clear guide on how they can get their children used to the water themselves. Isabell Bauch, gwt employee and head of the Mit Sicherheit mehr Spaß am See (More fun at the lake with safety) project, sees this swimming guide as a good starting point for cooperation between the two. In addition, Deutschland Schwimmt is active in inclusive sports, as its declared goal is to ensure that all children, with or without disabilities, can stay safe in the water. Swimming instructors for people with disabilities and swimming instructor assistants who themselves have disabilities are also being trained.
For the summer of 2023, gwt Starnberg had once again organised numerous project-related activities around the lakes: the popular water rescue days during the summer holidays, the swimming badge day at Seebad Starnberg and the sustainability festival organised by BUND Naturschutz. In November 2023, there will be a big pool party, for which all children who took part in the activities have received free tickets. ‘With our series “Mit Sicherheit mehr Spaß am See” (More fun at the lake with safety), we specifically target children of kindergarten age and are already successfully cooperating with partners such as the water rescue teams, the Kreissparkasse, the Starnberg seaside resort, Radio TOP FM and others. We now also have our own worksheets on swimming rules and large-format puzzle games,’ explains project manager Isabell Bauch.
In future, Isabell Bauch will join Katja Lindo as an ambassador for the foundation. From 2024, the Starnberg-Ammersee region will become a pilot region for distributing the swimming primer. Designed in the style of the popular Pixi books, the booklet informs children and parents about how to get used to the water, thus laying the foundation for learning to swim properly.
The vision of foundation founder Alexander Gallitz is that, in the long term, every child in Germany will be familiar with this booklet. Isabell Bauch will tackle the pilot project in close cooperation with Sabine Kurz from the Deutschland Schwimmt foundation in the region, thereby expanding the gwt project Mit Sicherheit mehr Spaß am See (More fun at the lake with safety). After 2024, when Lake Starnberg boat trips are to take place again with all preschool children in the district for the first time since Corona, it will be an ideal opportunity to distribute the swimming primer developed by the foundation in addition to the exciting programme offered by the water rescue service.
LA VILLA is also involved – beyond Cross'n Chill – and will provide Alexander Gallitz and his team with a stand at their popular Christmas market in December.