This project can count on people in charge of inclusive education, sports clubs and swimming federations that are in charge of teaching how to swim to students with physical disabilities aged 16-25. The aim is to increase their self-esteem, to make them acquire new abilities, to increase their cultural communication, to reduce alienation and to strengthen their relationships with society. 

“It’s a project that creates a connection between trainers of various nationalities with a common goal, such as the one of deepening the teaching models of adapted swimming. This project opens a very enriching space for dialogue between professionals of sport from different countries and contexts who share experiences”, says Salvador Romero, teacher of the Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences of UCAM.

Likewise, he considers that “this is not enriching only for trainers, but also for athletes, since it also aims at connecting the participants from different countries”.

The participants of the project ‘REAL’, apart from UCAM Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia, are other four partner institutions: Rightchallenge – Associação (Portugal), Akademia Humanistyczno-Ekonomiczna w Lodzi (Poland), Isparta Genclik Hizmetleri ve Spor Il Mudurlugu (Turkey) and Asociatia Esperando (Romania). 

The partners met in Lodz (Poland) to coordinate their respective works, apart from disseminating the project and strengthening the basis that will allow them to continue. Likewise, they saw the facilities used in Poland to work with people with disabilities. Daniel López-Plaza Palomo, researcher of the Faculty of Sport, participated on behalf of UCAM. 

The swimmers themselves, who also attended the meeting, expressed their satisfaction for being a part of this initiative, since they state that they are much happier and that they have more self-esteem. 

Throughout the project, various meetings are going to be held in the various headquarters. The next one will be in January, and UCAM will be the host partner. Moreover, the project will conclude with a big meeting, in the form of a competition between the participants from the different partner countries, in Turkey, the country that leads the project.

The Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union co-financed this project that began a year ago and that will finalise at the end of 2020.