TEACHING your children to swim doesn’t have to cost the earth and shouldn’t be viewed as a chore.
Sian Silk from Waterways Swim School in Nowra said to teach a toddler to be able to paddle to the edge of a pool can take as little as 10 weeks, depending on their learning capacity.
The cost of a swimming lesson is $13.50.
Sharon Edwards from Nowra takes her 17-month-old daughter to swimming lessons as part of her family’s commitment to being responsible pool owners.
“I don’t think it’s ever too early to learn water awareness. We have a pool and my husband and I love the water so Jasmine is going to be in the water.
“We’re very vigilant at home with the pool. Our rule is that Jasmine must always be supervised in the backyard.
“She’s been coming to swimming lessons since she was eight months old and now she doesn’t panic when she’s underwater and knows to put her hands out to reach for the wall,” Mrs Edwards said.
Sally Bettenay from Greenwell Point has been teaching her 18-month-old son Darcy to swim since he was six months old.
“It’s an important life skill.
“I think it’s important for kids to have the skills to get out of trouble and enjoy being in the water.
“I used to be a surf lifesaver and saw plenty of people get into trouble in the water.
“Even parents without pools in their backyards should teach their children to swim. You’ve got to arm your kids with everything you can. You can’t always be there, like when they go to visit a friend who might have a pool,” she said.
Check the fence this weekend
By ADAM WRIGHT
SHOALHAVEN Railings owner Darren Holmes knows only too well the terror of having a toddler almost drown in a backyard pool.
The Basin View man who installs high-end pool fences recalled the day his own son had a narrow escape.
“My young bloke fell into a pool at two years of age. Thankfully, his mother was watching him and pulled him straight out.
“He was with older children but they were busy playing and didn’t notice.
“He’d been to swimming lessons and could float.
“Adult supervision is the key.
“You can have the best fence in the world but if you leave a resourceful kid unattended there’s a chance it could break into the pool area.
“It’s a big responsibility on the pool owner and parents of children involved,” he said.
Backyard swimming pools claimed 18 young lives in the past 12 months.
About 16,000 new pools are built in NSW each year and with the Swimming Pools Act currently under review, laws on fencing are set to become tougher with the removal of current exemptions.
Royal Life Saving’s CEO Rob Bradley said thousands of pools across Australia were potential death traps because they either had fencing that was unsafe or gates that didn’t work properly.
As part of the 2009 Keep Watch campaign, Royal Life Saving is urging all Australians to take action this weekend and put their home pool through a safety check.
Royal Life Saving CEO Rob Bradley said all drowning deaths were preventable and effective fencing and supervision could reduce tragedies.
“One of the big problems is that people may think their pool fencing is perfectly safe when in fact erosion, storm damage or wear and tear may well have created weakness in the fencing.
“Research shows that in some areas of Australia up to 80 per cent of pools are non-compliant with current safety standards.”
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