Making a splash: New water sports initiative boosts confidence of Dundee teenagers

School pupils from Dundee have been learning water sports as part of a new initiative.

The teenagers have spent the last five days rowing, sailing and powerboating up and down the River Tay.

It’s the first time the summer activity programme has run after a partnership between Leisure and Culture Dundee and the Royal Tay Yacht Club’s Tay Estuary water sports hub was formed.

Alison MacKenzie, the community sport hub officer with Leisure and Culture Dundee, said: “We’ve worked closely with Craigie High school to target kids who maybe wouldn’t have access to water sports, so the youth worker within Craigie High has identified these pupils to come down.

“We have a huge number of volunteers who are working here this week and who have given up their time to provide this activity for the kids at no cost.”

Part of the scheme’s mission is to help teenagers improve their confidence.

Brodie Ross is going into fourth year at school and says she wants to come back next year: “At the start of the week I was quite nervous because I didn’t really know how safe it was going to be,” she said.

“But towards the end of the week and just now I’m feeling really confident. I was actually quite excited this morning when I got up…I was just like ‘yes I’m going to get on load of boats today’.

“We saw loads of seals when we were out on the rowing boat and we saw dolphins and one jumped right up, it was so cool.”