In this Daily: SwimSafe Costa Rica Taking Off Alongside Investment in Water Safety in Costa Rica
A few months back, ConnectOcean partnered with several lifesaving associations around the country to create Costa Rica’s first ever lifeguarding federation. The goal of this project was to standardize some practices and procedures throughout the country, and implement a single unified body through which lifesaving associations could communicate, share knowledge, and refine their skills by participating in competitive lifesaving competitions.
As SwimSafe Costa Rica is starting to gain traction, there is also news that the Costa Rican government has begun their own efforts to invest in water safety, including a 1.5 million dollar allocation to lifeguarding and lifesaving to be spent between 2020 and 2022.
SwimSafe Costa Rica, National Investment in Costa Rican Water Safety
ConnectOcean has been running their Nipper lifesaving programs for a few years now, and hosts sessions open to sign-ups almost every single saturday in Las Catalinas. With the creation of SwimSafe Costa Rica, there is a new vigor to these efforts. Beginning this weekend, Swim Safe has begun spreading out from Las Catalinas to host courses all across the country is the next step in the growth of this new federation, with ambitions to begin implementing lifesaving clubs to host competitions in this up and coming sport.
ConnectOcean and SwimSafe aren’t alone in these efforts. The Costa Rican tourism board (ICT), recently announced an outlay of 1.5 million dollars to be invested in water safety over the next three years, which includes a significant increase in lifeguarding coverage of Costa Rica’s most trafficked beaches as well as partnerships with the Red Cross and other organizations.
More young people involved in lifesaving on a grassroots level combined with these new investments in lifeguarding on a national level both represent progress towards Costa Rica becoming an even safer and more enjoyable vacation destination.