We’re showing thousands of kids in Australia how to have fun and be safe in the water.
Our aim is a simple one – to get more kids swimming and enjoying the water safely.
With the support of Royal Life Saving Society – Australia and some of Australia’s best swimmers, we want to show kids how swimming can be a fun part of a healthy and active lifestyle. As well as this, we aim to boost the swimming skills of young Australians to help reduce the tragic number of drowning incidents that occur each year.
And, if we help to make a few Olympic swimmers in the process, then that is just a bonus!
If you’re keen to learn more about swimming and water safety, you have come to the right place. We’re going to show you some of the fundamentals of:
We’ll also help you to locate the nearest pool to you, and the best swimming lessons for you and your kids.
It’s no surprise that when children are confident in the water, they have a lot more fun – and so do parents and carers!
Royal Life Saving’s Swim and Survive program is a series of structured swimming and water safety lessons that aim:
- Introduce kids to the water in a safe and supportive environment
- Teach kids the basics of water safety, like safe entry’s and exit’s
- Encourage interaction with the water and develop water safety awareness
- Build strength and technique to create confident and skilled swimmers
From the basics of water safety to perfecting strokes and even competing in races the Swim and Survive program can help you and your kids get started on a comprehensive and fun aquatic education.
For more information on Swim and Survive, please visit www.swimandsurvive.com.au.
Being safe in the water is an important part of reducing child drowning. With a good understanding of water safety and the skills to act effectively in an emergency, anyone can be a lifesaver.
Helping to prevent child drowning is as simple as:
- Being aware of water hidden dangers in pools, inland waterways, and the beach
- Behaving safely and responsibly in the water at all times
- Having strong swimming and personal survival skills
- Knowing CPR and emergency response actions
With SWIM KIDS and the right water safety training, these steps should come as second nature.
Home and public pools are a great place for competitive and recreational swimming.
However, when children are over-confident or supervision is lacking, swimming pools can be a dangerous place for children to be. Learning about pool safety is crucial.
SWIM KIDS can teach safe pool behavior, such as:
- Actively supervising your pool
- Creating a child safe environment
- Removing dangers in and around the pool
- Having a fully stocked first aid kit near the pool
- Obeying written (and unwritten) pool safety rules
For more tips on how to keep your swimming pool safe, download the Royal Life Saving Home Pool Safety Checklist.
Around the home, the most common places for children to drown are bath tubs and backyard pools. Other sources of water such as ponds, buckets or eskies filled with water, the laundry tub and paddling pools pose a risk for young children.
Child safe play areas, active supervision and an awareness of household dangers can help to reduce drownings in the home.
It is well known that exposure to the sun can have hazardous consequences.
We’ll show you some tips for reducing the risk for you and your children when you are enjoying the fun of outdoor swimming and play, by:
- Being aware of the length of time your children are exposed to the sun
- Checking the Cancer Council website for the UV index
- Wearing protective clothing and sunscreen, such as such as sunglasses, hat, long sleeve clothing and sunscreen
There is no reason why your family shouldn’t be able to have fun in the sun. We’ll show you how to do it as safely as possible to help reduce the likelihood of skin and eye damage.
Learning Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) could save someone’s life, even your own child. With these skills you can quickly administer help in those first vital moments before emergency services arrive.
Royal Life Saving Society – Australia has training courses that will show you how to administer resuscitation and emergency care correctly and confidently, so you are able to act quickly.
It is highly recommended to have a CPR chart in your home and near your pool. In some States, it is mandatory, so check with your local Council.
Swimming for fun is a great way to enjoy the water and stay active.
With the proper level of water safety awareness, swimming recreationally can be a life-long pursuit with some great benefits. Not only can it be a relatively inexpensive way to have fun, but it’s also great for your health and can be a very social activity too.
Learn more about the benefits of being a strong recreational swimmer with SWIM KIDS. From water games and swimming with toys like flotation or dive rings to water sports, there is no limit to the fun you can have in the water.
The accomplishments of Olympic and Paralympic swimmers might seem like a far cry from learning water safety and basic swimming skills, but even our champion swimmers started somewhere.
We are lucky enough to have the advice and support of some of Australia’s strongest and fastest swimmers, and they are sharing it with you through SWIM KIDS.
This is a great place to find out a bit more about the achievements of some highly accomplished swimmers like Eamon Sullivan, Emily Seebohm, Cate and Bronte Campbell, James Roberts and our greatest ever Paralympian Matt Cowdry. You can also find out:
- How they got started
- What a typical day is like for them
- Some tips for improving your swimming
Once you have been inspired by the experts, you’ll be ready to get started.
We can help you to find your nearest pools by post code, suburb or city. Take a look at the closest swimming pools to you according to how far you would like to travel, and compare them to find the best fit for you.
Or, take a look at your local swimming schools by location and we’ll give you directions and link you to their website (where available).
Remember, aquatic education is an important step for kids, so take your time making the right choice and stick with it!
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