Swimming lessons are the process of learning to swim. In most countries there is a definition of a number of swimming levels that are reached in the process of the curriculum. The respective certificates of swimming tests are required for further training in aquatic abilities. Many countries have defined a minimum swimming level that children should reach by the end of primary education, in most cases with the help of school swimming classes being part of the normal curriculum.
Children are often given swimming lessons, which serve to develop swimming technique and confidence. Children were traditionally viewed not to be able to swim independently until 4 years of age, [1] but infant swimming lessons are now recommended to prevent drowning and increase water familiarality. [2] [3] There are many different ways of learning to swim with swimming lessons. There are community center lessons, semi-private lessons and private lessons. Swimming lessons can support children with special needs through adaptive swimming lessons.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends swimming lessons for children from 1–4, along with other precautionary measures to prevent drowning. [4] In 2010, the American Academy of Pediatrics reversed its previous position in which it had disapproved of lessons before age 4, indicating that the evidence no longer supported an advisory against early swimming lessons. [5]
There is an essential difference between the new infant swimming lessons and the traditional parent-child water play sessions. Infant swimming lessons, sometimes called infant swim recovery, teach infants and toddlers how to recover from an accidental fall into a body of water. Unlike traditional parent/toddler classes, which encourage the child's face in the water through blowing bubbles, infant swimming lessons instill in the child the skills to regain buoyancy from a submerged state and to tilt the head back, getting it out of the water to take breaths and cry for help. Children ages one to six-years-old learn advanced safety skills to roll to their backs to take a breath and then to roll back to their stomachs to continue swimming. [6]
Swimming lessons reduce the risk of drowning by 88% for babies and children up to 4 years old. [7]
In many locations, swimming lessons are provided by local swimming pools, both those run by the local authority and by private leisure companies. Many schools also include swimming lessons into their physical education (PE) curricula, provided either in the schools' own pools, another school's pool, or in the nearest public pool.
The Department for Education in England includes learning to swim as a compulsory element in primary school PE curriculum. According to the department's website, at the end of year 6 (age 11), all children "should be taught to...swim 25 metres" (front and back) and demonstrate an understanding of water safety. Schools can decide when and where pupils will learn to swim. Many children in the UK learn to swim in lessons that are not provided by their primary school and can swim 25 meters by the age of 6. The National Governing body for Swimming is Swim England who train and accredit 80% of swimming teachers in England and Wales * [Ofqual statistics 2012-17] Advocates for school swimming lessons in the United States frequently cite the CDC estimate that 34% of 80%American adults are unable to swim 24 yards. [8]
In Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland, the curriculum for 11-year-olds in the fifth grade states that all children should learn how to swim as well as how to handle emergencies near water. Most commonly, children are expected to be able to swim 200 metres (220 yards)—of which at least 50 metres (55 yards) is on their back—after first falling into deep water and submerging their head underwater. Even though about 95 percent of Swedish schoolchildren know how to swim, drowning remains the third-most common cause of death among children. [9]
In both the Netherlands and Belgium, swimming lessons during school time (schoolzwemmen, or school swimming) are supported by the government. Most schools provide swimming lessons. There is a long tradition of swimming lessons in the Netherlands and in Belgium; the Dutch translation for the breaststroke swimming style is schoolslag (schoolstroke). The children learn a variant of the breaststroke. In recent years however, most Dutch towns have abolished school swimming in order to cut expenses. [10]
In Germany and Austria, school swimming (Schulschwimmen) is part of the elementary school curriculum leading to the entry level certificate (Frühschwimmer) for about 90 percent of the children (a 95% goal set by the ministers for education with actual percentages ranging as low as 75% in some schools). About 50 percent reach a higher swimming level certificate during school swimming. In Switzerland most schools offer a swimming course, though only 70% of the students take part in it, which has led to the Schulschwimmen für alle petition in 2007. Unlike in Germany and Austria, the Swiss school swimming test commonly includes a jump from the diving tower.
In France, school swimming (natation scolaire) is part of the curriculum for physical education in the second and third grade in elementary school, or for children aged between 4 and 6 years of age. The aim is successful completion of entry into water then swimming for 50 metres (55 yards), before floating for 10 seconds, then swimming on the front and on the back for 10 metres (11 yards) each, ending with retrieval of an object from deep water of more than 2 metres (6.6 feet). [11]
In England, the "Top-ups scheme" calls for those schoolchildren who cannot swim by the age of 11 to receive intensive daily lessons. These children who have not reached the National Curriculum standard of swimming 25 metres (27 yards) by the time they leave primary school will be given a half-hour lesson every day for two weeks during term-time. [12]
In Canada and Mexico there has been a call for swimming to be included in the public school curriculum, which has been implemented slowly in a few schools. [13]
In Singapore, most swimming schools teach the SwimSafer Programme introduced by Singapore National Water Safety Council in July 2010 with support from the Singapore Sports Council. The SwimSafer Programme combines instruction in swimming and life-saving skills. [14]
The Arbeitsgemeinschaft Österreichisches Wasserrettungswesen (working committee for water rescue in Austria) is a joint committee of private organizations and government bodies. They have defined four grade levels of swimming lessons used in school swimming.
Additionally, the ÖWR water rescue organization's testing requirements for the Jugendschwimmerschein (youth swimmer certificate) includes 50 metres of breast stroke under 1 minute 5 seconds, 50 metres front crawl under 1 minute, 50 metres back crawl under 1 minute 19 seconds, description of lifeguard rules, 50 metres of rescue swimming with another similar-weight person, 100-metre snorkel under 1 minute 50 seconds, and 100 metres of swimming while clothed.
In Canada, the Canadian Red Cross Swim program is used, with over one million Canadians enrolling each year. Similar to the system set out by the American Red Cross, the Swim Kids program for school-aged children consists of ten levels that progress from basic confidence-building skills to more complicated strokes and techniques. [15] In beginner levels, students learn breathing techniques, basic water safety skills, and introductory swimming techniques including how to float and glide in the water at shallow depths. At intermediate levels, students are taught six swim strokes including front crawl, sculling, back crawl, breast stroke, elementary back stroke, and sidestroke. [16] Advanced levels of the program teach students to use these techniques to swim in deeper water and remain safe while swimming. Upon successful completion of the ten levels of the program, students are eligible to enter the Bronze Medal programs (Bronze Star, Bronze Medallion, and Bronze Cross) to learn lifesaving skills. [17] After completing all three Bronze Medal program courses, students can further advance with additional programs such as Water Safety Instructor (WSI) that teach them how to become swimming instructors themselves. Additional programs following the same structure at a faster pace are also available for teenagers and adults who wish to learn how to swim safely and build confidence in the water. [16]
Additionally, 800,000 Canadians participate annually in Lifesaving Society (LSS) swimming, lifesaving, lifeguard, first aid, and leadership training programs. Each year LSS certifies thousands of instructors who provide the leadership for those training programs. As Canada's leading lifeguarding experts, LSS sets the standard for professional lifeguard training and certify Canada's National Lifeguards. [18]
The Schwimmabzeichen (swimming badge) is assigned in four levels: Entry, Bronze, Silver, and Gold. The levels are defined by the Bundesverband zur Förderung der Schwimmausbildung (federal association for promotion of swimming lessons—assembling NGO associations) in coordination with the federal Kultusministerkonferenz (assembly of the ministers for education of each Bundesland -state).
The entry level Frühschwimmer (early swimmer) includes a swimming test where the student shows a jump from side, a 25-metre swim (no style prescribed), and pickup of an object underwater. The Frühschwimmer level is better known by its mascot Seepferdchen (seahorse) shown on the badge, leading many to refer to it as the Seepferdchen certificate.
The bronze badge requires 200 metres of swimming in under 15 minutes (no style prescribed).
The silver badge requires 400 metres of swimming in under 12 minutes, pickup of an object from deep water (more than 2 metres), jump and dive from the side, and 10 metres of swimming underwater.
The gold badge requires 1,000 metres of swimming (under 24 minutes for males and under 29 minutes for females), sport swimming of 100 meters (under 1:50 for males and 2:00 for females), 100 metres of back crawl, 50 metres of rescue swimming, 15 metres of swimming underwater, pickup of three objects from deep water (2 metres minimum, under 3 minutes, maximum 3 attempts).
Lifeguard certificates are defined separately by each organization; the entry level is Junior-Retter (junior rescuer) at the DLRG (the largest aquatics life saving organization in the world) and Juniorwasserretter (junior water rescuer) at the Wasserwacht (water rescue branch of the German Red Cross). Extended Lifeguard certificate grades can be obtained at three levels of the Rettungsschwimmabzeichen (rescue swimming badge) in bronze, silver, and gold.
The Dutch National Swimming diploma is issued by the National council for swim safety. The national swimming diploma exist of the Swim-ABC and separate swimming skill diplomas. The National Council for swim safety advises children to get the full Swim-ABC program. This three-stage program will teach children the basic skills of swimming. When a child understands and masters the fundamentals of the basic swimming skills, they will earn a diploma. The Swim-ABC program consists of three separate diploma's. After getting all diploma's you officially meet the standards of the National norm of swim safety.
The Singapore SwimSafer program works to help children learn how to swim and how to be safe in the water. This is a six-stage program that encourages kids to have fun and to learn at a pace that is right for them.
The programme was reviewed in 2016-2017 and a refreshed version of SwimSafer was developed. SwimSafer 2.0 teaches people of all ages and varying abilities to swim and be safe in, or and around water. This programme emphasises skill development in conjunction with water safety and personal water survival education. [19]
In Switzerland the Schwimmtests (swimming tests) are not organized in levels; instead each ability is tested by itself and a number of test certificates are put in a group designation. The swimming tests are defined by "swimsports.ch", which is an association of swimming NGOs and the federal institute for sports (BASPO).
The Entry level has six tests: Ente (duck), Schwan (swan), Seehund (sea lion), Nilpferd (hippo), Schildkröte (turtle), and Biber (beaver).
The Basic level has seven tests: Krebs (crab), Seepferd (seahorse), Frosch (frog), Pinguin (penguin), Tintenfisch (cuttlefish), Krokodil (crocodile), and Eisbär (polar bear).
The Advanced level has eight tests: Wal (whale), Hecht (pike), Hai (shark), Delfin (dolphin), and four additional tests with no symbols assigned.
Scotland
In Scotland swimming lessons are undertaken by pupils at an age 8 or 9 when the child is in Primary 5. These lessons take place during the school day. The Scottish Amateur Swimming Association – known as Scottish Swimming – has called for all young children to be entitled to free swimming lessons as they have been in England and Wales since the 1990s. Swimming lessons in Scotland have come under criticism because of the long waiting lists where in some counties there is a waiting list of up to 2000 children, or 1040 days. [20] This has led to an increase of private swimming schools start up which are able to use private pools (as opposed to council run lessons only using council pools).
Lessons in Scotland generally follow two main award schemes, the STA (Swimming Teachers' Association) or Swim England (SE) award schemes. The council lessons tend to follow the SE Scheme whilst private swimming lessons use either of them. There have been a number of high-profile cases of private swimming lessons changing from SE to STA. Recognised by employers for their quality, Swim England consistently remain the preferred choice of over 80% of swimming teachers in England and Wales* [Ofqual statistics 2012-17] The STA also teaches about life-saving techniques in their lessons which the ASA offer as a separate course in conjunction with the Royal Life Saving Society. In England, all schools must provide swimming instruction either in key stage 1 or key stage 2. In particular, pupils should be taught to: swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres use a range of strokes effectively [for example, front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke] perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations. There is no provision for this in the Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland.
In the United States, most swimming schools use the swimming levels "Learn To Swim" as defined by the American Red Cross.
Lifeguard certificates are obtained directly in courses of the American Red Cross. The course length varies with 30 to 37 hours with an option for blended learning for the five certificates of Pool Lifeguarding, Waterfront Lifeguarding, Waterpark Lifeguarding, Aquatic Attractions Lifeguarding and Shallow Water Lifeguarding. [21]
Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water or other liquid, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that results in directional motion. Newborns can instinctively hold their breath underwater and exhibit rudimentary swimming movements as part of a survival reflex. Swimming requires endurance, skill, and efficient techniques to maximize speed and minimize energy consumption.
A lifeguard is a rescuer who supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, beach, spa, river and lake. Lifeguards are trained in swimming and CPR/AED first aid, certified in water rescue using a variety of aids and equipment depending on requirements of their particular venue. In some areas, lifeguards are part of the emergency services system to incidents and in some communities, lifeguards may function as the primary EMS provider.
The butterfly is a swimming stroke swum on the chest, with both arms moving symmetrically, accompanied by the butterfly kick along with the movement of the hips and chest. It is the newest swimming style swum in competition, first swum in the early 1930s and originating out of the breaststroke.
Breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and that it can be swum comfortably at slow speeds. In most swimming classes, beginners learn either the breaststroke or the freestyle first. However, at the competitive level, swimming breaststroke at speed requires endurance and strength comparable to other strokes. Some people refer to breaststroke as the "frog" stroke, as the arms and legs move somewhat like a frog swimming in the water. The stroke itself is the slowest of any competitive strokes and is thought to be the oldest of all swimming strokes.
Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimmers not being able to see where they are going. It also has a different start from the other three competition swimming styles. The swimming style is similar to an upside down front crawl or freestyle. Both backstroke and front crawl are long-axis strokes. In individual medley backstroke is the second style swum; in the medley relay it is the first style swum.
Human swimming typically consists of repeating a specific body motion or swimming stroke to propel the body forward. There are many kinds of strokes, each defining a different swimming style or crawl.
Medley swimming is a combination of four different swimming strokes into one race. This race is either swum by one swimmer as individual medley (IM) or by four swimmers as a medley relay.
Swimming has been a sport at every modern Summer Olympics. It has been open to women since 1912. At the Olympics, swimming has the second-highest number of medal-contested events after athletics.
Scuba Schools International (SSI) is a for-profit organization that teaches the skills involved in scuba diving and freediving, and supports dive businesses and resorts. SSI has over 3,500 authorized dealers, 35 regional centers, and offices all over the world.
David "Dave" Charles Berkoff is an American former competition Hall of Fame swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events. Berkoff was a backstroke specialist who won a total of four medals during his career at the Olympic Games in 1988 and 1992. He is best known for breaking the world record for the 100-meter backstroke three times, beginning at the 1988 Olympic trial preliminaries, becoming the first swimmer to go under 55 seconds for the event. He is also remembered for his powerful underwater backstroke start, the eponymous "Berkoff Blastoff" which after a strong push-off from the side of the pool used a horizontal body position with locked arms outstretched overhead and an undulating or wavelike aerodynamic dolphin kick to provide thrust and build speed.
Walter Percy Spence was a swimmer from British Guiana who competed for Canada in the 1928 Summer Olympics and 1932 Summer Olympics. He immigrated to the United States and held several national swimming titles there.
Kaye Marie Hall, later known by her married name Kaye Greff, is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events.
Combat side stroke or CSS is a variation of the side stroke that was developed by and taught to the United States Navy SEALs. The Combat Swimmer Stroke was developed for the United States Navy Seals by Former Navy SEAL Stew Smith (CSCS) and Terry Laughlin of Total Immersion Swimming.
Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water. Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic sports, with varied distance events in butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, and individual medley. In addition to these individual events, four swimmers can take part in either a freestyle or medley relay. A medley relay consists of four swimmers who will each swim a different stroke, ordered as backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle.
The front crawl or forward crawl, also known as the Australian crawl or American crawl, is a swimming stroke usually regarded as the fastest of the four front primary strokes. As such, the front crawl stroke is almost universally used during a freestyle swimming competition, and hence freestyle is used metonymically for the front crawl. It is one of two long axis strokes, the other one being the backstroke. Unlike the backstroke, the breaststroke, and the butterfly stroke, the front crawl is not regulated by the FINA. Hence, in "freestyle" competitive swimming events, any stroke or combination of strokes is permissible. This style is sometimes referred to as the Australian crawl although this can sometimes refer to a more specific variant of front crawl.
Freestyle is a category of swimming competition, defined by the rules of World Aquatics, in which competitors are subject to only a few limited restrictions on their swimming stroke. Freestyle races are the most common of all swimming competitions, with distances beginning with 50 meters and reaching 1,500 meters, also known as the mile. The term 'freestyle stroke' is sometimes used as a synonym for 'front crawl', as front crawl is the fastest surface swimming stroke. It is now the most common stroke used in freestyle competitions.
Swimming has been recorded since prehistoric times; the earliest recording of swimming dates back to Stone Age paintings from around 7,000 years ago. In 1578, Nikolaus Wynmann, a German professor of languages, wrote the first swimming book.
In swimming, a turn is a reversal of direction of travel by a swimmer. A turn is typically performed when a swimmer reaches the end of a swimming pool but still has one or more remaining pool lengths to swim. In competitions, there are judges or pressure pads in each lane to verify that a swimmer has touched the end wall while turning. A short course race has more turns than the same-distance long course race, and the world record will be quicker because of the leverage provided by push-off turns.
The German rescue swimming badge is awarded by the Wasserwacht of the German Red Cross, the DLRG and the ASB for proficiency in rescue swimming skills. The German rescue swimming badge is awarded in bronze, silver, and in gold. The awards is available as a cloth patch, as a metal badge, or as a ribbon. The rescue swimming badges in silver and gold are permitted to be worn on uniforms of the Bundeswehr, the German Police and various rescue services as a ribbon. It is also an entry-requirement for some German Police agencies.
The German swimming badge is awarded by members of the Wasserwacht of the German Red Cross and the DLRG for completing certain requirements and for demonstrating swimming skills.
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