Franziska van Almsik once swam and set world records, titles and medals. But she’s less interested in winning than in helping kids learn to swim safely. Because Germany has problems there. Summer demonstrates this in frightening ways.
Twenty-two years have passed since Franziska van Almsik retired from acting. But swimming still plays a big role in the life of the former world-class athlete – although not in the same way as before. The Berliner, who once became a sports star as a teenager at the age of 14, has long worked with her foundation to get more children to learn to swim. Swimming as a survival skill. And also as a recreational sport.
PEACE ON SUNDAY: Miss van Almsik, when was the last time you bathed or bathed? I: Can you even do this – take a bath?
Franziska van Almsik (48): It’s difficult, very difficult. Splashing or swimming don’t have much importance in my life. I actually went to the sea this year and swam there. This works quite well, but I don’t know what else you’re doing in the water (laughs).
WAMC: Other people around you on the sea or lake probably feel differently. Do you often worry and think: Lord, there are a lot of people here who don’t know how to swim or who overestimate themselves?
From Almsik: I am often shocked when I see adults – even adults – swimming and realize that they have serious deficiencies and do not have good swimming technique. You can usually tell whether a person has actually learned to swim or whether he somehow figured it out on his own. When I see children in the water, I usually get even more scared because many of them seem very unsafe. The problem of learning to swim is simply visible.
WAMS: The latest figures show that at least 99 people died in June, 90 percent of whom were men; 40 of those who drowned were under 30 years of age. What’s going on inside you?
From Almsik: Every bathing death is one too many. It saddens me, but honestly, it doesn’t surprise me. We need to stop talking about swimming only after swimming accidents. Swimming training should occur in advance. And we shouldn’t be lulled into a false sense of security: a seahorse by itself is not a safe swimmer.
WAMS: Only those with bronze are considered safe.
From Almsik: Namely, the seahorse is a beginning, not a destination. Overall, unfortunately, the numbers are an excellent indicator of how important our work at the foundation is. Our goal is to ensure that every child masters at least one form of swimming after leaving primary school. It is best if preschoolers learn to swim properly in courses. Perhaps some of the people in distress learned to swim at some point, but perhaps not to the extent they should have. You also need to be able to correctly assess dangers and yourself. Clearly more needs to be done.
WAMS: What was your starting point for this involvement? Was there a specific reason?
From Almsik: Not really, but when I was active, there were often children in the gym learning to swim. And even when I stopped and still had to train, I was often in the gym and just saw that the quality of young people in school swimming was simply a disaster. If you see a swimming instructor standing in a pool with 30 kids in person, you will quickly realize that little will come of it. Especially when the kids only have 40 minutes and need to shower. And then one half already has seahorses, and the other half doesn’t. There are also those who stand on the sidelines and cry – the teacher must somehow cope with all this and also teach the children something. This is a disaster of moderate severity. It was also clear to me that I wanted to be involved in an important cause – and ideally one that I was 100 percent familiar with.
WAMC: What worries you as a mother of two children?
From Almsik: For me, the worst idea was always that something would happen to my children in the water. I was really afraid of this. Otherwise, I never really worried about her, but the fact that there was a disaster related to water confused me. So of course I made sure they learned to swim early and took the subject very seriously.
WAMC: There are many reasons for the problem of not being able to swim. In your experience, is there a root cause?
From Almsik: In fact, there are only problems, so to speak. We can say that most children really want to learn to swim. When they did this, they were very happy about the seahorse – and then they wanted more. So this is not something you should force on children. However, what is absolutely missing is space in the pools, that is, the water area that you have to occupy.
WAMC: This leads to long queues for courses and impacts school swimming.
From Almsik: Not every primary school can offer the required swimming lessons – because there simply is no water. But this must be guaranteed. The main problem is that it has become difficult to even be able to learn to swim. I believe that if every child should learn to read, then every child should also learn to swim. Anyone who cannot swim is always at risk of drowning. Swimming is not a hobby. Swimming is a survival skill.
WAMC: Do you feel like politicians are taking this problem seriously enough?
From Almsik: I know there are a lot of big topics. But swimming isn’t just an afterthought, it saves lives. That’s why we can’t always put it aside. Policy must create conditions so that every child can learn to swim. The biggest problem is often not the motivation of children, but the fact that in many places there simply is not enough water. We need sufficient water areas and functioning swimming pools. Because without water no one can learn to swim.
WAMS: You’re not just talking about kids learning to swim, right?
From Almsik: Exactly. It’s not just about learning to swim and saving children from drowning. Swimming is also the number one recreational sport, and not only in Germany. If you can’t do much anymore, you can usually still swim. Accordingly, we must maintain swimming pools for our pensioners, for our sick people who have to go into the water for rehabilitation. For the general public. Exercise is also extremely important for overall mental performance. We should wake up slowly because we have the impression that something always happens first, that we are only woken up when it is almost too late.
WAMS: This is a common problem. Be it small or big.
From Almsik: Unfortunately, yes. At this point I would like to give my full support and also thank all the people who are volunteering in clubs or entrepreneurs with ideas. Desjoyaux Pool School is a great example. There, exhibition pools are available free of charge for water awareness courses and for seahorses. Without our many private supporters, we would fall further behind. But at the end of the day, it would be important that we gradually get to the point where there is a little more support from politicians.
WAMS: After all, the Budget Committee of the Bundestag has just given the green light to the model project “Germany Learns to Swim” in cooperation with DSV and DLRG. By 2029, it is planned to allocate up to 20 million euros to support local cooperation.
From Almsik: I read this too – this is an important signal and a good first step. What is important now is that this will lead to continuous improvement of conditions. Because you learn to swim not through support programs, but in the water. As I said, this requires ample water areas, functioning pools and reliable swimming lessons. The pool is much more than just a place to learn to swim. This is healthcare, rehabilitation, a sports club and a place for sports – both for children and the elderly. Can I add anything else?
WAMS: With pleasure.
From Almsik: I think it’s extremely important that you can afford it financially. We have to catch everyone in time. That’s why I’m a big proponent of the full-time primary school strategy, because we can just round up all the kids and make it a school subject for free. This is the right age.
WAMS: To what extent can top-level sport contribute to increased television exposure and success for Germany?
From Almsik: Probably not when it comes to solving the problem that municipalities and cities can no longer afford swimming pools. But what elite sport can do – whether it’s swimming or another sport – is pave the way for movement. To inspire young people to want to be like those they see on TV. Or just enjoy your workouts. It’s also fun to worry. If you love and follow sports, you have to be prepared for defeats and tears, but also for big celebrations because you celebrate victories. And this is only a small part of what sport is capable of. Sports can bring a lot to society.
Melanie Haack – sports editor in WELT. She has been reporting on Olympic sports and sports for many years. Extremsport as well as fitness topics. Here you will find your texts.