Ex Kenya Rugby Sevens star and Olympian Dennis Ombachi on Monday, July 11, sent social media into a frenzy after he released a video where he tossed his one-year-old son into a swimming pool.
In the video seen by Kenyans.co.ke, Ombachi embraced his son, before throwing him into the pool while he was fully clothed as the toddler's mother watched.
The child lay face-down in the pool of water and wrestled himself on his back, enabling him to float.
The former rugby player declared that his baby was officially water safe, revealing that he had enrolled him into safety classes. He further added that he had put in safety measures to ensure that the child remained afloat.
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"Four weeks since we started water safety classes and my son graduated today, officially water safe! He went in with four layers of clothing including two diapers, more than doubling his weight in water. Proud father!" He remarked.
In addition, he shared a video of his eight-month old daughter undertaking the classes, revealing that she had also graduated.
The video, which has since gone viral, sparked mixed reactions from Kenyans who were torn between his action. A number of users lauded the rugby star for introducing his children into water safety at an early age.
Steve Njuguna opined that Ombachi had equipped his children with potentially life-saving skills- noting that several people die by drowning because they do cannot float, let alone swim.
"Ombachi’s actually doing right by those kids by introducing them to water safety .You can’t imagine the number of deaths that happen annually from drowning in both kids and adults. Knowing how to balance your weight to float is usually the difference between life and death for many," Njuguna wrote.
Watching from a sportsman perspective, the official page of the Kenyan Olympic team was impressed by the the early introduction of the toddlers into swimming, and booked them for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), 1200 Kenyans have died by drowning as of 2020. WHO listed drowning as the leading causes of death of people aged between one and 24 years.
