So, Jón Gnarr, the newly-elected mayor of Reykjavík, has had little hesitation diving straight into action. His first scheme, to allow children to swim for free, took effect this Saturday. It will run throughout the summer. According to a tour guide at the Alþingi (the Icelandic parliament), the move has been well-looked upon by city residents. But that’s just one person’s opinion.

Under the mayor’s scheme, all people under the age of 18 can use the city’s swimming pools at no cost to themselves. This is the Best Party’s first job since they’ve been in power, and was announced in a co-operation statement for the party and the Social Democratic Alliance. Jón Gnarr became mayor of Reykjavík on 15th June.

Iceland has an abundant supply of geothermally-heated water, along with an abundant supply of often abysmal weather (although in the past few weeks there have been some beautiful days). As a result, swimming pools and heitir pottar* are widely popular all over Iceland. Swimming is almost the national sport (handball takes the official pride of place), and all children are required to learn to swim as part of their education.

The move by the the mayor should encourage children to get active and spend more time in Reykjavík’s wonderful pools, and outside—many of the pools are outdoors (hence the barren indoor pool above). All that’s left for the children to do is enjoy the swimming pools and celebrate the summer!

*hot pots, communal hot tubs found at nearly every pool across Iceland

Source: mbl.is
Image: chrissy575

Labels: Politics, Sport