Academy Swim Club

The key to preventing childhood drowning is supervision; however studies have estimated that up to 90% of children who drown were reportedly supervised when the incident occurred.  The best protection is an adult educated about and focused on water safety.  Here are a few simple steps you can take to become water smart:

1. Designate a Water Watcher.  Many parents accompany their child to the pool, but read a book, play on their phone, or otherwise divert their attention away from the action in the water.  Remember: children drown without a sound . . . in just a few seconds.  Whenever and wherever children are swimming, designate a person who will focus solely on supervising the splashing.  He or she should not leave the pool area (or lake, river, etc.) until a replacement arrives or the children leave the water.  It can be a mind-numbing job, so Water Watchers should trade off fairly regularly.
2. Always bring a phone to the pool, lake, river, etc.  You won’t want to waste precious minutes racing to the house to call 911.  Make sure the phone is placed in a high, dry place.  DO NOT leave it in a pocket.  Chances are you wouldn’t stop to remove the phone from your pocket before jumping into the water to rescue a child.
3. Check the water first.  If you notice that your child is no longer happily mashing Cheerios into the living room carpet where you left her, look where the water is first.  Parents have searched for their toddler in the house for 15 minutes before finally looking in the pool.  Early medical intervention is vital, so be sure to first scout out the pool, pond, fountain, toilet or any other place where an exploring child could run into water trouble.
4. Learn CPR.  Minutes make a huge difference when it comes to receiving emergency care.  The CPR class is only a few hours and the cost is cheap compared to a child’s life.  Contact the American Red Cross or your local hospital for information on upcoming classes in the area.

Childhood drowning is preventable.  Educated adult supervision, together with swimming lessons and barriers, combine to wrap children in layers of protection.

Every instructor at Academy Swim Club wants their students to be capable of saving their own life in a water emergency.  What we’d like even better is to prevent the emergency in the first place.  Supervision is, of course, imperative, but there are easier ways to police your pool.

1. Fences.  Nothing could be simpler.  You can opt for a permanent, wrought iron masterpiece or the flexibility of a removable fence.  Whichever option you choose, we recommend installing a key lock of some type (an ordinary padlock will do).  We’ve heard too many stories of precocious preschoolers able to operate the latch on a pool gate (by balancing on lawn chairs, tricycles, pets, etc.)  Just make sure the key is placed in some unlikely, inaccessible spot as well.
2. Safety Pool Covers.  These are mesh or solid covers that are pulled taut and secured to the deck at recessed brackets.  Flimsy solar covers offer no protection against drowning, but safety covers are strong enough for an adult to walk on and offer warranties of up to 25 years.  The mesh ones also allow rain to pass through while keeping out leaves and debris.  We’re keeping pools clean and saving kids’ lives – how’s that for multi-tasking?
3. Alarms.  You’ve got a lot of options here: in-pool alarms, gate alarms, door alarms.  The technology for in-pool alarms has improved in recent years so that the siren doesn’t go off every time a leaf falls into the pool.  Gate alarms not only alert you when a child opens the gate, but also when an adult fails to close the gate.  Door alarms are placed at all house doors that lead to pool access.  Our absolute favorite “alarm” isn’t an alarm at all.  One of our ASC parents has a security system that announces any door that is opened (“Back Door – Open,” in a feminine voice like the computer in Star Trek).  Pretty handy when you’re as worried about the kids escaping into the front yard as the back.

So which one should you get?  You need to judge what will work best with your family, but ideally you need more than one barrier or alarm.  There is no ONE sure fire way to protect your children from drowning; the trick is to wrap them in layers of protection.  Swim lessons, barriers and alarms, and educated supervision all work together to keep kids safe, each making up for deficiencies in the other methods.  Think of it like planning a balanced meal and choose one from each group.

Safety Week at Academy Swim Club contains a lot of information, but these three easy water safety rules just might save your child’s life. Review them early and often for a watersmart kid!

1. Never swim alone – Always swim with a grown-up!
This is the number one rule in the pool. Even a good swimmer can get a cramp or hit his head and need help. Oh, and make sure your child understands what age qualifies as an adult. A three year old might consider her ten year old cousin a “grown up”.

2. Never jump in to save someone–Get a grown-up (or Reach & Throw–Don’t Go)
Some kids will instinctively jump into a pool to rescue another child that is struggling, especially a sibling or close friend or relative. It is especially important to train young children that the best way to help is to tell an adult (again, making sure they are clear on who makes the cut-off). Reassure your child that he will not be in trouble (even if he broke the rules and snuck out to the pool with his little sister).  In the event that an adult is not available for some reason, school age children can be taught Reach and Throw rescues. The rescuer holds out a hand, towel, noodle, etc. for the child in the water to grab ahold of, and then tows her back to the side. The rescuer MUST lie on his/her tummy while pulling the victim to safety so s/he is not accidentally pulled into the water as well.

3. Wall Walk to the Steps
Wall walking is like the Vice President of water safety skills – unappreciated and overlooked, but really, really important in the case of an emergency. If your child falls into a pool then manages to grab the wall, the safest way to exit is to wall walk to the stairs (not to be confused with the ladder, which can be slippery). He should NOT try to climb out at the side. Chances are he will fall back in and not have the energy to make it back to the wall again. It’s a good idea to practice wall walking to the left and right – toddlers can become so used to wall walking in one direction that it becomes impossible for them to go the other way.

Talk to your child about these rules regularly, emphasizing the actions he or she should take in case of a water emergency.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has recently updated it policy on swimming lessons for toddlers.  Until now the AAP advised against swim lessons for children under four.  However, in light of studies that show that children ages one to four are less likely to drown if they receive formal swim instruction, the AAP has revised its recommendation.  A news release on the AAP website now states that, for children one to four years old, “Parents should decide whether to enroll an individual child in swim lessons based on the child’s frequency of exposure to water, emotional development, physical abilities, and certain health concerns. . .”    That sound you hear is thousands of swim instructors giving each other a big high-five!  Don’t tell us toddlers can’t learn to swim.  We all have stories of a toddler we taught to swim falling into grandma’s pool on Thanksgiving and getting himself to safety. 

Drowning is the leading cause of death in children under five – number two in children ages one to nineteen, with toddlers and teenage boys most at risk.  It is true that each child learns to swim at his own pace based on many factors including general temperament and ability, the attitude of his or her parents and past experience with the water.  Early exposure to swim lessons allows a toddler to develop his ability in the water as well as on land.  Everyone in Southern California is exposed to water more than we realize.  Even if there is not a pool in our own backyard, the neighbors have one.  Plus there are community pools, parks, lakes and rivers.  Many people now have inexpensive, large, inflatable pools that can be up to four feet deep.  Waiting until a child is four or older only prolongs the length of time they are at risk by not knowing how to save themselves in the water.  A good swim program will not only teach swimming, but also include a complete water safety program.    

The AAP also warns, rightly so, that swim lessons are not enough to prevent drowning and emphasize “layers of protection”.  The first and best “layer” is vigilant adult supervision around any water, including fountains and bathtubs.  A child that knows how to swim is still vulnerable to injury.  They also advise parents to learn CPR and completely fence backyard pools.  Early swim lessons are another vital safety net to help prevent an emergency.

Will teaching your child to swim save him or her from accidental drowning? Whatever other goals parents may have for enrolling their child in swim lessons, that is always their number one priority. The truth is swim lessons are like seat belts and holding your child’s hand when crossing the street – they provide another layer of protection, but there is more to water safety than putting on a swim suit once or twice a week. Education and training for an emergency are vital.

Several times a year Academy Swim Club holds “Safety Week” as part of our complete water safety program. During this week regular lessons focus on safety skills and preparing our swimmers for handling water emergencies. The most stunning example of this is when we ask our swimmers to jump into the water with their clothes on. All of our swimmers at every level are asked to come to lessons with their clothes on over their swim suit. Water makes clothes heavy and unwieldy, shoes make kicking more difficult – sensations that panic many children at first. That’s why we want their first experience swimming with their clothes on to come in a controlled environment where their instructor stands ready to help the swimmer float and get back to the wall. Panic can strike even the most confident young swimmer caught in an unfamiliar situation, such as falling into a pool while fully clothed. After Safety Week the strange feel of wearing clothes in the water is not new and they are better prepared to cope with this emergency.

Safety Week lessons also focus on what to do if you see someone struggling in the water, when to call 911 and personal flotation device (PFD) use. General rules that should be observed around water are discussed at length, including the most important one – NEVER SWIM ALONE! Drowning is 100% preventable and supervision is key to circumventing tragedy.

Our next Safety Week is from March 22nd through March 27th. Your child should wear regular street clothes (that you won’t mind taking a dip in our pool) over their swimsuit. Shoes and socks should also be worn. Jackets, sweatshirts, etc. also make the lesson more effective. Don’t forget to bring a change of clothes and bag to take the wet clothes home in!

Ahh, Spring. The weather is getting warmer and our thoughts turn to tax preparation and the compulsive urge to vacuum under furniture. While these two things can be put off indefinitely (depending on your standards of housekeeping and how many extensions you can finagle from the IRS), water safety is one subjected that is best addressed right now. Nope, this isn’t a pitch to put your kids in swim lessons (but don’t let that stop you from doing it) – it’s to tell you about our amazing, educational, life-saving Aquatic Safety Awareness Program (A.S.A.P.)

And it doesn’t cost you a penny.

A.S.A.P. is the non-profit foundation begun by Jim and Nikki Miller over 10 years ago to educate the community about basic water safety. The national drowning statistics are horrifying – it’s the leading cause of death for children under 5 (and #2 for children under 14). Every spring A.S.A.P. Ambassadors travel to pre-schools and kindergartens across the Santa Clarita Valley to present a fun puppet show that highlights rules every child should know around water. Our spokesfish, Gus and Goldie, along with an accident-prone hammerhead shark and a type-A dolphin, illustrate important safety points such as “Never Swim Alone” and “Reach and Throw – Don’t Go”. The children are also given a Gus and Goldie coloring book, a parent’s guide to drowning prevention and a card good for a free swim lesson at Academy Swim Club.

Last year A.S.A.P. Ambassadors visited over 2100 students. This year we want to beat that number. If you have a 4 – 5 year old, ask your principal or pre-school director if he or she has scheduled a date for the A.S.A.P program. If not, ask that he or she contact Academy Swim Club to do so – A.S.A.P! It’s educational, it’s fun and it’s FREE. Best of all, it just might save a life.

Living in SoCal we can’t escape the backyard pools. Even if you don’t have one, chances are good that a neighbor, friend or relative does. The motto of Academy Swim Club has always been “Learn to swim . . . for life!” Now we’re adding another – “Every child a swimmer by 3!” A motto and a mission.

Two summers ago, back in 2008, July was a particularly difficult month at ASC. Every weekend for an entire month brought news of another child drowning in Santa Clarita. Thankfully none of our ASC family was hit with this tragedy, but some of their neighbors were. Naturally, all of us were shocked and saddened, but in the end we were motivated to do something. A little education would go a long way in preventing further incidents, so in response ASC offered a free CPR and Water Safety course – not just for our members, but anyone in the community. The following spring we dispatched our Aquatic Safety Awareness Program (ASAP) Ambassadors to pre-schools and elementary schools all over the valley to educate and empower over 2100 children to save their own lives with basic water safety. No one wanted to see another summer like ’08.

Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death for children under 5. Many parents do not think of signing their child up for swim lessons until they are almost 5, so when you think about it, this is hardly surprising. Water is everywhere – pools, fountains, toilets, buckets – and kids love the stuff. Can’t keep them away. Nothing replaces supervision (even for excellent young swimmers), but learning to swim adds another layer of protection.

We want summer to be about fireworks, camping trips, blockbusters and pool parties. So that’s our motto and our mission – “Every child a swimmer by 3!!!”