A FIRST of its kind national-level high altitude open water swimming camp was organised at Dirang Chu, Arunachal Pradesh by Dr Jaiprakash Duble, Director, National Institute of Swimming recently.

Dr Duble was chief coach of the camp that aimed at helping the open water swimmers to practice in low temperature waters and hypoxyic conditions.

In this camp, all the information required on skill sets for efficient open water swimming was given. Information on necessary precautions and care to be taken during open water swimming in 12°C and below water temperature was given to the campers. Along with Maharashtra’s Jayant Duble, open water swimmers from Assam, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Tamil Nadu also participated in the camp.

Open water swimming includes swimming in the dam, lake, river, sea and ocean. In India, open water swimmers practice in such waters and competitions are also held.

At such times the swimmer has to face off and continue his swim against the tides, speedy winds, cold water etc. The campers at Arunachal Pradesh were given guidance and motivation along with information on precautionary measures to be taken necessarily during open water swimming.

District Collector Vimala R appreciated the efforts of organisers for successful conduct of the training camp.

More swimming training camps will be organised by NIS and updates will be provided on its website http://www.nationalinstituteofswimming.com.

Interested swimmers can contact NIS through the website and register themselves for further camps and updates informed technical experts Dr Sambhaji Bhonsale and Shruti Rathi Gandhi.