ID to reduce ‘Sports for All’ swim classes

The president of the Sports Bureau (ID), Pun Weng Kun, has announced that the bureau is adjusting the swimming pool facility operations of the Lin Fong Sports Center (Canidrome) to allow the facilities to be used by younger swimmers, he said on the sidelines of a press conference yesterday.

According to the president of ID, the changes take effect from October and will reduce the number of classes run under the ‘Sports for All’ system, which has been very popular among older adults.

In a press statement, the ID also explained that the ‘Sports for All’ swim classes have been running for over 20 years in the facility, and have been enjoyed by some 72,000 participants over the last decade.

Many participants (5,200) were recurrent attendees, with some participating in the classes for over a decade.

The ID believes these participants should have enough experience to be able to swim on their own without the need for organized classes.

For Pun, the priority is now to allow the younger generation to start engaging in this sport and potentially discover new talented athletes.

Pun said the ID aims to establish alternative classes for the elderly population, potentially at off-peak times or at other swimming pool facilities in the Peninsula.

Asked by the media again about subsidies the ID provides to local full-time athletes, Pun said they are provided with an allowance of more than MOP10,000.

Pun noted that in some cases, the athletes have been training outside Macau, and reaffirmed that the conditions for professional athletes in Macau are better than those in comparison to other countries and regions.