Deep water test

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a strong swimmer, my kids are good swimmers, and I wouldn’t want any of us to swim in a lake without a life vest on. Way too many unknowns, water temp changes etc. Literally anyone can get a cramp, and they’ll never rescue you in a lake. They may not even find your body.

I think a roped off, lifeguarded section of a lake, at someplace like a camp or a town beach, is pretty safe. It sounds like they're being cautious about which kids are allowed over their depth and there is supervision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While camp might give swim lessons, you shouldn't be expecting them to teach her to swim. Swim team or swim lessons while at home is how she'd pass the test and how her friends are doing it. Camp for a few weeks for 4 years plus messing around in the pool won't teach her.

This. Takes hundreds to thousands of hours swimming to become a good swimmer.

You gotta be kidding.

This seems true to me. I’m sure that an older child or adult who spent most of their swim time focused on becoming a strong swimmer could do it faster. But my kids probably spent at least 500 hours in the water before they could swim, and another 3-400 before they really became strong swimmers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a strong swimmer, my kids are good swimmers, and I wouldn’t want any of us to swim in a lake without a life vest on. Way too many unknowns, water temp changes etc. Literally anyone can get a cramp, and they’ll never rescue you in a lake. They may not even find your body.

I think a roped off, lifeguarded section of a lake, at someplace like a camp or a town beach, is pretty safe. It sounds like they're being cautious about which kids are allowed over their depth and there is supervision.

NO.

The least safe open water is the kind you're describing. People look at it, see lifeguards and ropes, and step back from direct supervision of their kids because "lifeguards and ropes".

As a lifeguard who has worked in a variety of environments, I wish more parents would stop seeing a lifeguard as a babysitter or swim instructor and see a lifeguard as basically someone who's there to pull a body out of the water. Ropes are not magical forcefields that prevent drowning or turn a lake into a controlled environment. I've never been more stressed than when lifeguarding camps and town beaches. At least at camp we had a headcount and could focus on that. A town beach is scary chaos.

A shallow, roped off lake is the most dangerous environment I can think of, because people make all sort of assumptions based on depth. In reality, there are tons of neck injuries and paralysis because of irregular slopes and depths and people who unexpectedly hit the bottom when playing around. Someone might get freaked out by the darkness or temperature change or a fish or by missing the bottom if they take a step too far, and if they open their mouth as they go under they can very quietly drown.

Our town beach has a very aggressive swim test which frustrates kids but also forces families to really work on situational awareness and swimming skills. I wish more places with open water did so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While camp might give swim lessons, you shouldn't be expecting them to teach her to swim. Swim team or swim lessons while at home is how she'd pass the test and how her friends are doing it. Camp for a few weeks for 4 years plus messing around in the pool won't teach her.

This. Takes hundreds to thousands of hours swimming to become a good swimmer.

You gotta be kidding.

This seems true to me. I’m sure that an older child or adult who spent most of their swim time focused on becoming a strong swimmer could do it faster. But my kids probably spent at least 500 hours in the water before they could swim, and another 3-400 before they really became strong swimmers.

Instructor. This is accurate. And there's also a big difference between a kid who can swim a length of decent freestyle, which is the point at which most parents bail out on lessons, versus a kid who is competent in the water and truly a strong swimmer. I'm adding things up and my kid probably had done 800-1000 hours between lessons, family swim time, summer swim team, and lake swimming before I stopped watching her all of the time in the lake or the pool.