Backyard and community pools are popular with children and adults of all ages but owning or operating one is a major responsibility. Take every step possible to prevent unintended injuries in and around pools and spas.
Learn about the hazard of drain entrapment and what to look for at pools and spas your family frequents. Individuals in the 5-9 year-old category had the highest frequency of entrapment reports.
Supervise children at all times around pools and spas. Adults should keep a constant eye on all kids in the water. Emphasize the need for constant supervision to babysitters.
Install a four-sided barrier, such as a fence with self-closing gates completely surrounding the pool. If the house forms the fourth side of the barrier, install alarms on doors leading to the pool area to prevent children from wandering into the pool or spa. Also install safety covers and perimeter or in-water alarms as additional layers of protection.
Learn to Swim and teach your children to swim. Many organizations provide swimming lessons.
Know how to respond:
• Get training in basic water rescue skills, first aid, CPR
• Have rescue and first aid equipment available at the pool
• Keep a phone at the pool
If children will be attending your party, it’s essential to have adults supervising the pool festivities at all times. Consider contacting your local parks and recreation department to hire a professional lifeguard to monitor your pool. The most important rule of thumb is to have a few adults (and ones who are not consuming alcohol) be willing to watch the swimmers at all times. Have a phone on hand at all times in case of an emergency.
Make sure your pool’s depth is clearly marked so swimmers know whether or not it will be safe to dive. You may want to implement an overall no-diving rule for your party just to prevent any injuries.
Don’t forget to keep lots of water handy. Spending hours in the sun can lead to dehydration, but your guests may not notice as they’re immersed in water. It’s not a bad idea to set a swim break once an hour for people to relax and re-hydrate.
A Adult Supervision
Assign an adult to supervise children in and around the swimming pool and spa. This is needed whether there is one parent or guardian present or numerous adults present such as during a family event or party.
Maintain constant eye-to-eye supervision with children in and around the swimming pool and spa.
Remove children from the swimming pool and spa area for any distraction such as a telephone call, use of restroom, etc.
Issue the adult supervisor an item such as a whistle, bracelet, etc. to reinforce which adult is in charge of the safety of the children.
Floaties or other inflatable flotation devices are not life jackets and should never be substituted for adult supervision.
Maintain a clear view (no trees, bushes or other obstacles) from the home to the swimming pool and spa.
Ensure any adult responsible for the children know the emergency services telephone number and also your location address in the event emergency personnel are needed to be called to the scene.
B = Barriers
Have a fence enclosure that isolates your swimming pool and spa from the home, play areas, front and side yards and the neighbor’s yard.
Make sure all gates in the isolation fence are self-closing and self-latching.
Multiple layers of barriers isolating the pool and spa from children should be installed. In addition to an isolation fence, one or more of the following safety features can provide the additional protection necessary:
1. Approved swimming pool and spa safety cover
2. Approved swimming pool and spa alarm
3. Exit alarms on doors providing access to the swimming pool and spa
4. Keep all doors and windows leading to the swimming pool and spa area locked
5. Doors providing access to the swimming pool and spa equipped to be self-closing and self-latching with a release mechanism high enough to be out of the reach of a child.
6. The man-door from the garage should be self-closing and self-latching with a release mechanism high enough to be out of the reach of a child
7. Perimeter yard fence provided with a self-closing and self-latching gate
All chairs, tables, large toys or other objects that would allow a child to climb up to reach the gate latch or enable the child to climb over the isolation fence should be removed or kept inside the fenced area.
Learn how to perform Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).
See CPR Awareness Video on this website; or use the link on this website to the American Heart Association to sign-up for a CPR class or to purchase an at-home training kit.
Enroll your child in swimming lessons.
Details of French Law for swimming safety
Reasons for learning to swim differ from person to person but generally they fall under the following headings.
SurvivalThe ability to save one’s life and possibly to reduce the need for others to risk their lives. To have the ability to train in order to save somebody else’s life in an emergency.
Fitness
As a means of providing the opportunity for experiencing the benefits of regular exercise.
Recreation
Social as you can meet new friends through the membership of a club. The activity can be enjoyed with one or more friends. It is a family participation activity for all ages and abilities. It is a means of allowing safer access to other water bases persuits such as sailing.
Therapy
People with disabilities can enjoy swimming as the water is supportive and reduces the stress normally brought on by other weight bearing activities. Exercise can be undertaken without the need for great strength.
Competition
The ability to swim enables an individual to compete in a wide range of activities such as diving and water polo and challenges and tests can be taken.
http://www.swimming.org/britishswimming/swimming/about-competitive-swimming/
Competitive swimming goes from the grassroots to the highest level. It incorporates indoor and outdoor events and is one of the biggest events in the Olympic programme. Find out more…
There are two types of swimming recognized within the sport – pool-based events and open-water swimming, which is sometimes known as marathon swimming.
There are two types of swimming competitions: long course and short course. Long course (LC) is held in a 50m pool and short course (SC) is held in a 25m pool. The Olympics is always held in a 50m pool but there are international competitions in both LC and SC.
The major difference is that a swimmer will turn more often in SC competitions and can therefore create more momentum from powering off the wall of the pool.
There are range of events in the swimming programme. Typically this will be 50m, 100m and 200m races in each of the strokes (breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and freestyle). With freestyle there is also the 400m event and for women the 800m, and for men the 1,500 freestyle.
There are also 200m and 400m individual medley races for both men and women, where they will complete lengths using breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and freestyle strokes. Plus there are male and female relays swum over 4 x 50m.
Open water swimming is basically as it sounds, swimming in open areas of water such as lakes, seas and rivers.
Open Water swimming was actually the forerunner of the pool (indoor) competitive swimming that we know today. Learn more about the history of Open Water swimming.
Open water competitions can be anything from 200m up to 88 kilometres but international competitions races tend to be centred around 5km, 10km and 25km. The main international competitions are:
Olympic Games 10km
World Championships 5, 10 & 25km
European Championships 5, 10 & 25km
European Junior Championships 5, 10 & 25km
LEN Cup 5 & 10km
FINA Marathon World Cup 10km
FINA Grand Prix Various
The first ever Olympic 10km marathon swimming race was included in Beijing 2008. Team GB clinched three medals in this event – half the medals on offer. Thanks to David Davies, Keri-Anne Payne and Cassie Patten there is now more attention on the sport of open water swimming.
Interestingly, world open water swimming records are not kept by FINA simply because open water venues can be so different. This is not just in length but differences such as water conditions, water temperature and weather conditions.
If you would like to get involved in open water swimming there are a number of events in Great Britain for all ages and levels. The British Gas Great Swims are a series of mass participation events. The British Long Distance Swimming Association also organise many events through out the year.
If you require more information on open water please contact:
Mark Perry
Open Water Performance Manager
British Swimming
Medway Building
Loughborough University
Loughborough
LE11 3TU
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)