Why choose Red Cross Swim for your kids?
Swimming lessons are swimming lessons, right? Not so fast. When selecting the right program for the swimmers in your family, you want to make the wisest, safest choice possible. The Canadian Red Cross has 60 years of experience in keeping people safe while in or near water. If you want the best in research, technique and safety, you want Red Cross swimming lessons.
Founded on research
In 1946, Red Cross launched its swimming program to address drowning deaths in Canada. When Red Cross took on water safety as a key program focus in the 1940s, an average of 1,200 Canadians died in the water annually, making drowning one of the leading causes of death among young Canadians. Today, thanks in large part to the work of the Canadian Red Cross in those intervening 60 years, that number has fallen significantly – to 472 deaths in 2000.
Active in water
Swimming is a great fitness activity –one people can enjoy for a lifetime. Within the cushioning comfort of water, and with little stress on joints associated with some exercises such as running or aerobics, swimming is great for fitness, rehabilitation from injury, and enjoyment. Red Cross lessons put an emphasis on being in the water, so that youth are actively learning skills and exercising their bodies. Exercise is key to a healthy living plan and Red Cross Swim lessons can help.
Safety lessons for life – literally
Strokes are important, there’s no question. But being a strong swimmer will take you only so far if you don’t also know how to respond in an emergency. Red Cross lessons teach about safety – water temperature, entries into water, boating knowledge and equipment. These life skills may just save a life.
What to look for in a swimming program
- Quality instruction – Red Cross Water Safety Instructors complete more than 60 hours of learning, followed by practice teaching, before ever dipping their toes into your local pool.
- Research-based programming – with more than 10 years of drowning research to back it, the Red Cross knows why and how people drown, in order to prevent water-related injuries and deaths. Research is the cornerstone of Red Cross swimming and water safety.
- Swimming skills and water safety – swimming alone won’t save a person whose boat overturns in the water. The knowledge to stay safe and survive will.
- Lots of in-water time – a good swimming program will focus on time spent practicing skills, not on the deck talking about them. Red Cross believes in active learning, and is putting even greater emphasis on activity in response to the growing obesity epidemic.
- A continuum of learning – from programs for babies to youth to adults to learning how to be a Water Safety Instructor, the Red Cross helps build life-long swimmers, and leaders in the community.
Sign up for Red Cross swimming and water safety lessons in your community. Click here to find a pool or waterfront in your community.
