To all Parents and Team Members,
It is in the summer months that we see more cases of children drowning in back yard pools, waterways, or people needing to be rescued from the ocean. There was a staggering 271 drowning deaths in Australian waterways from July 2014 to 30th of June 2015. With a 30% national increase (26 deaths) in drownings of children aged under 5 in that same period. (1)
It is easy to say that we need children and adults alike to learn various survival skills which are either taught in the pool or the ocean, or that parents should adopt various methods of teaching babies to save themselves, but it is our experience over the past 40 years in aquatic education that the best survival skill is in fact learning to swim, and learning to swim in a program aimed at creating strong, confident swimmers in all strokes.
The State Swim program is divided into 3 stages, which cater for all age groups from babies to adults. Our first stage is the “Swim and Play” program for children from 6 months to 4 years of age. With 26 drowning deaths last year in this age group it’s an absolutely vital stage where children can be introduced to the water in a safe, warm and friendly environment. Children will learn various skills such as submerging, floating and movement through the water with a focus on having fun and becoming safe and strong in the water, which forms the foundation of learning to swim in our “400 Gold” program.
Our program runs all year round to facilitate optimal learning and to maximise progress through the levels.
Learning to swim is the best survival skill your child can have.
To find out more about the State Swim program please explore our website or call your nearest centre for more information.
Royal Life Saving National drowning report 2015