Swimming is for everyone: How a para-athlete worked on making a swimming pool accessible

CHENNAI

Madhavi Latha’s eyes shine when she talks about swimming. “At the age of forty, I became a national-level para swimming champion,” she says with a laugh, when she talks about her journey.

Her story of how she overcame several challenges and became a successful para-athlete is an inspiring one. For her, however, the buck doesn’t stop there. “Swimming is good for everyone — persons with disabilities, senior citizens and even those who can’t do strenuous exercise standing up. However, it is a challenge for many of us to even enter a pool,” she says.

Accessibility is an issue at most common swimming pools, ranging from those in hotels, schools, and even residential complexes. This concern is what prompted her to look closer at the swimming pool in her residential complex and how it can be made accessible. 

The swimming pool at Triumph Apartments where Ms Madhavi stays, now has a pool lift which she uses regularly.  “The flat owners as well as residents were supportive. Apart from persons with disabilities, senior citizens, as well as persons who have health conditions like arthritis and cannot access the steep stairs leading into the pool can use this,” she says. 

While she was helped into the pool in the past, the swimming champion can now independently access the pool through the swimming pool lift. From her wheelchair, Ms. Madhavi demonstrated how she moves to the pool lift and controls the equipment through a remote. The lift then gently lowers her into the pool. For her, it was an exhilarating moment when she was able to use the pool there for the first time on her own.

B. Srinivasan, president and S. Ananthasubramaniam, secretary of the Triumph Apartments Owners Association, said they spoke to a structural engineer who gave them the go-ahead. “This was an important initiative by Ms. Madhavi, and we were keen on ensuring that the common facilities are accessible to all.”

Bhargav Sundaram, Chief Executive, Callidai Motor Works from where the pool lift was procured, said that the equipment was used mostly in hydrotherapy pools for persons with disabilities and senior citizens. “The swimming pool lift is a very simple system that ensures a soft landing when people use it to get into the pool. To install it in existing swimming pools, there’s simple civil work required which can be completed in less than a day,” he explained.