One hot afternoon, the Prempeh cadet commanders and the sports masters decided to take Prempeh cadets to town to swim. All the cadets
were taken
to a swimming pool in the city.
Upon arrival at the swimming pool site, all the boys took off their shirts and got ready to swim. Suddenly, Senior Ogor (also called Ogor Bata),
the Dining Hall Prefect, told the crowd that since he's from Accra, he wants the village boys (i.e. Kumasi boys) to stand aside and watch him demonstrate
the fundamental swimming principles.
All the cadets decided to step aside and watch "city boy" Senior Ogor.
Before jumping into the pool, he turned to his friend Senior Obu, the sports prefect, who was standing by the edge of the pool, and said, "watch this technique."
He then
dived into the 17-feet level of the pool.
It turned out Ogor had never swam in his life!
He sunk to the bottom of the pool and came up few moments later (with water-filled mouth and nostrils) to scream, "Obrrrrrrrrrr" (that is his way of calling out Obu).
After saying Obrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, he dropped to the bottom of the pool again, only to pop up to the surface moments later to scream, "helprrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr."
The alternating sound
of Obrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-Helprrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-Obrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-Helprrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr prompted the village boys to rescue him. But not
until sports master Mr. S.Q. Sraha had highlighted his plight with the
words: "I see a cockroach drowning; a cockroach is drowning."
This true story from 1987 illustrates the need to have a swimming pool on campus for Prempeh students to learn to swim. Fast-foward twenty
years into 2007. That much-needed swimming pool is currently under construction at a site near the Recreation center.
When completed, both villagers and city boys will have the opportunity to hone their swimming skills. We will bring you a report on the pool's construction at a later date.
