Five-year-old Johannes Ilstad Bithammer is among the last children to benefit from free swimming lessons at Pirbadet in Trondheim, aimed at making them safe in the water. According to NRK Trøndelag, Johannes Ilstad Bithammer described finding it difficult to make contact with the water and not having learned to swim yet. Since 2015, municipalities, voluntary organizations, and kindergartens could apply for subsidies for such lessons, with Trondhjems Svømme- og livredningsklubb offering five-day courses in Trondheim and surrounding areas. According to NRK Trøndelag, Tanja Bjorøy, responsible for kindergarten swimming in the club, described the joy in children progressing from barely daring to be in water to jumping into deep pools as incredible, and she emphasized the course's importance for preventing drowning accidents, noting that few become good swimmers without this offer beforehand.
From January 2026, the government cut the subsidy scheme as part of a budget agreement, shifting responsibility to municipalities. According to NRK Trøndelag, Sigurd Kvammen Rafaelsen, a Labour Party member of the municipal and administration committee in the Storting, described swimming instruction as incredibly important and must be prioritized, adding that municipalities could still fund it even without subsidies. Bergen has set aside money to maintain the offer, but Trondheim and Malvik municipality, where Vidhaugen kindergarten is located, have not. Following a citizen proposal from concerned parents, the Trondheim city council will decide at the end of April whether to continue swimming instruction in kindergartens.
I have not learned it yet. It is a bit difficult.
Political blame has emerged over the funding cut. The city council parties and budget majority want to remove swimming instruction, citing that earmarked funds were not part of the Storting budget agreement just before Christmas, and they blame the budget partners Ap, Sp, SV, and Rødt for the removal. The same agreement increased state transfers to Trondheim municipality by over 100 million in free funds. In the municipality's preparatory committee, Høyre's representatives argued that the 'cut' must be taken responsibility for by the red-green parties, and they presented how further reduction of child and health services will finance cuts in property tax, while complaining about 'strained municipal finances'. Trondheim municipality had an operating surplus of half a billion last year, and continuing swimming instruction costs about one-twentieth of the gain from the budget agreement. According to Adresseavisen, the author claims that Høyre engages in redistribution policy in favor of the richest at the expense of children and lies about why they do it.
I cannot quite make contact with the water.
I think it will go fine. I like to swim with others, who I know.
The joy we see in the children when they go from barely daring to be in the water to jumping into the deep pool is completely incredible.
The intention is for the children to learn to swim during school, but few actually become such good swimmers without this offer beforehand.
It is so important that the children feel safe in the water and that they know what to do if they fall in. If they save themselves, they have saved a life.
Swimming instruction is incredibly important. It is the only sport you can die from not knowing, so it must be prioritized.
This was a subsidy scheme that was application-based, it was still possible for municipalities to prioritize this also if the application did not reach through.
We have given better scope to municipalities to also prioritize swimming instruction in kindergarten.