94-year-old wheelchair user among those buoyed by Enabling Village’s new inclusive pool

SINGAPORE – Physiotherapists had given up on Madam Peggy Tan, not knowing how to handle her advanced Alzheimer’s disease.

The 94-year-old, who relies on a wheelchair, has osteoporosis, which causes bone tissue to deteriorate and raises fracture risk.

But two months ago, she entered a swimming pool at the Enabling Village for the first time in years to join an adaptive physical disability class.

There, she stretches and moves her body to help with her mobility, buoyed by the water.

In April, Singapore’s first fully inclusive private indoor swim school for persons with disabilities opened at the Enabling Village in Redhill.

The pool is run by swim school Little Splashes Aquatics, which has pools in seven locations islandwide.

The school caters mainly to babies and children, but also offers free adaptive swimming classes for children and adults with special needs and physical disabilities.

Mr Edward Chew, senior director at SG Enable’s employment and lifelong learning group, said SG Enable had called a request for proposals in November 2023 with a three-year lease, as part of a refresh of the Enabling Village’s tenant mix.

Little Splashes was chosen for its proposal to develop a first-of-its-kind accessible swimming pool in Singapore for persons with disabilities and seniors, he said.

While ActiveSG has accessible public pools, this is the first fully inclusive private indoor swim school for those with disabilities.

Mr Chew said Little Splashes also pioneered the Halliwick Programme – an internationally recognised approach that uses the properties of water, like buoyancy, to help those with disabilities develop independence, mobility and water confidence – in Singapore.

Ms Elena Lim, head coach at Little Splashes, said the school has worked with more than 50 people with disabilities either directly or through collaborations with social service agencies such as Stroke Support Station, Minds, CaringSG and the Singapore Disability Sports Council.

Little Splashes’ adaptive swimming programmes for those with physical disabilities and special needs are co-sponsored by the school and SG Enable.

Ms Lim said: “We are receiving more inquiries than ever, particularly from neurodivergent clients and their families, who are eager to explore how water-based programmes can support development, therapy and recreation.

“What keeps us going is the ‘joy of the impossible’ – seeing clients who never imagined they could step into a pool suddenly experience freedom, weightlessness and independence in the water.

“For many, it is the first time they can move without assistance, and the smiles and breakthroughs we witness fuel our passion to continue expanding these programmes.”

For Mr Tsu Chin Siang, 67, it was his first time in the water since his haemorrhagic stroke in 2018.

The retired taxi driver said he was initially afraid of water entering his ears, but found the experience easy and “wonderful”.

He was glad to find that the 1m-deep pool was heated and the water came up only to his chest.

“It feels nice,” he said, adding that he hopes to swim the breaststroke again.

For some participants with greater needs, the school encourages caregivers to join them in the pool.

Madam Tan’s daughter Deborah Tan, 69, did not hesitate.

She said her mother had been an avid swimmer and part of a choir when she was younger.

Hoping to use water and music to stimulate her mother’s senses, she sang to Madam Tan as she gently carried her through the pool.

“So I say to her, ‘Mum, now you are my baby.’ And she chuckles.”

Madam Tan and her daughter went for the swim session after a drumming class that both of them attended at a nearby inclusive music school, MS Academy.

They then had lunch at AMGD Superfood Restaurant next door before heading home.

“It’s a great village we have discovered,” said Ms Tan, a retired resettlement housing officer.

“It’s a day out for my mum,” she added. “I want to make sure she’s healthy and enjoying each day.”

Public pools pull their weight

Efforts are also being made to allow more persons with disabilities to use public pools.

Nine ActiveSG public pools now have ramps, with one more to be added by the end of the year.

They also offer wheelchairs that can enter the water, and floats for those with disabilities in the Para Swimming programme.

The programme, run by ActiveSG Para Sport Academy, currently has around 100 participants, a fivefold increase from when it started in 2022.

One of them is Mr Aaron Wong, 44, who was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy when he was 12 and uses a wheelchair to get around.

Once a week, for an hour, he swims the backstroke in a public pool.

“The ability to swim, to move your arms and legs, is very liberating, because on land you are quite restricted by gravity,” said Mr Wong, who favours the backstroke as he can naturally float on the water.

He was all smiles as coaches wheeled him into the Heartbeat @ Bedok pool, not flinching when the cold water met his skin.

Over the course of 1½ years, Mr Wong progressed from relying on foam noodles and a float to stay afloat to swimming a modified backstroke.

He even competed in a Para Sport Academy competition for the first time at the end of his swimming programme.

Mr Wong said his goal is to be able to walk again.

“Now that I know that I can compete, I’m trying to be more active in that and in the personal goal of trying to overcome the odds.”