As an industry we tout the benefits of swimming every day, but usually we're talking about social interaction or the health improvements to be expected such as better circulation or lower blood pressure. Now we can add crime prevention to the list.
A small town in a remote corner of Australia has hit upon the idea of opening its community pool at midnight to draw kids off the streets and keep them out of trouble.
The program was the brainchild Aaron Jacobs, who works for Royal Life Saving Western Australia and manages the community pool in the tiny town of Fitzroy Crossing, about 1,600 miles Northeast of Perth.
"There's always been an issue here with a lot of youth walking the streets at night time, sometimes getting up to no good," Jacobs told ABC Kimberley, an Australian news organization. "So I just wished to provide them with a good supervised and safe spot to be, and hopefully be a good mentor."
"We do fruit for laps, which is a program run by Royal Lifesaving Society, and we might have a game of aqua-basketball. I'm really happy they're here, in a sense, because they're off the street."
