SINGAPORE: A new People's Association (PA) water sports club has opened in Sembawang, giving residents in the north of Singapore a taste of seasports.

Anyone can take part in the activities at the new Water-Venture centre at Sembawang Beach, which include kayaking, windsurfing, sailing and wakeboarding.

If you can't swim, facilitators will make sure you have your personal flotation device (PFD) strapped on.

But knowing how to swim is a must, if you are signing up for a certified course.

Calvin Christian, Head of Business Development at PA Water-Venture, said: "We do a swim test for all our certified courses, with the aid of a personal flotation device, over a distance of 50 metres.

"What we look out for is people who are confident in the water, able to tread water, swim around comfortably with the PFD on, especially when they're doing the capsize drills. They have to be comfortable before we actually continue the course with them."

This is the eighth People's Association seasports club in Singapore. The PA seasports clubs have about 18,000 participants each year.

At the Sembawang Beach, there are red buoys that demarcate the limits of all water activities. If anyone were to stray beyond them, the centre's patrol boats will guide them back to safety.

All water activities take place within the line of sight of facilitators and should there be trouble out at sea, patrol boats only need a few minutes to get to the incident site.


- CNA/so