RIYADH: A high-profile celebration, attended by Abdul Aziz bin Salamah, deputy minister of Culture and Information, and French Ambassador Bertrand Besancenot marked the 10th anniversary of the swimming club of the French International School Riyadh here on Thursday.
The guests, including several diplomats, guests, teachers, swimmers and students, joined the celebrations of the club called New Wave, which teaches children to swim in world class standards and with greater safety.
“From an initial group of eight children, there are now about 70 young swimmers who regularly attend the club,” said Clarence Rodriguez-Vial, who manages the club, the first of its kind in the capital city.
Clarence said that a large number of children had been taught to swim at the classes held in the pools. “Our club has its own standards and our teachers concentrate on helping the young swimmers to be confident in the water,” added Clarence.
She said that the New Wave was founded by Pierre Volant, who designed and created the club way back in 1999 with only eight swimmers. She said that the celebrations had been organized to commemorate and evaluate the performance of the club in the last 10 years as well as to chalk out future plans. The event also marked interactive live telephone conversations with founding members and former swimmers of the club from outside the Kingdom. A photo gallery was displayed on this occasion, retracing the club’s major events of the last 10 years.
“It was an opportunity to congratulate the club’s best performing swimmers, and in particular the young Alexandre Younes, who took part last summer in the 2009 Junior Olympics in the United States in the 7-8 age category. Younes won five medals and broke the 50m breaststroke record by an impressive five seconds, she said. “This achievement also proved that it is possible to practice high-level swimming competition in Saudi Arabia,” said Clarence.
The swimmers can take part in regional, national, international swimming competitions and even the Junior Olympics for those who qualify, she added. The Riyadh Swimming League represents six clubs: Al-Yamama Fish, Aqua Falcons, Barracudas, KFSH & RC Flyers, Tiger Sharks and New Wave. The New Wave is managed by Clarence, with support of Sabine Apraxine and Nourdine Temagoult. Soraya Saadoune has been the club’s head trainer since 2002. New Wave benefits from a 25m swimming pool and excellent sports facilities within the premises of the French school.
This enables the school’s children aged between five and 18 to practice competitive swimming, said Clarence. New Wave looks forward to seeing you in 2019 for its 20th anniversary, she added, while referring to the great advantages of swimming. She pointed out that swimming was one of the best ways to exercise your body. The old common saying goes like this, a girl must know two things in life at least and they are cycling and swimming, she said. “Swimming has many benefits and it is good for all purposes of exercise……...slim and flat stomach is what you get from swimming,” said Clarence.
