Swimming lessons reduce risk of drowning

  • Published: 12/31/2009 12:42:46 PM
WOODBURN — According to the National Safety Council, drowning remains the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related deaths for youths aged 14 and under.
 
“A child can drown in an inch of water,” said Michele Mercier, national manager of injury prevention.
 
Parents can do many things to reduce the risk of drowning, including ensuring that children are adequately supervised in and around the water, keeping gates around residential swimming pools locked, and making sure that children always wear personal floatation devices any time they are in or around open water.
 
However, one of the often overlooked tools is a good swimming lesson program. And, age seems to play a role in the effectiveness of swimming lessons. According to the American Red Cross, children are more likely to develop excellent swimming skills if they learn to swim by age 10.
 
Debbie Wadleigh, manager of the Woodburn Memorial Aquatic Center, believes the youth swimming lesson program is the backbone of their operation.
 
“All year long, our primary focus is making sure that Woodburn youth are as water safe as possible,” she said.
 
“While it’s impossible to completely drown-proof children, I really believe that our lesson program helps to make kids much safer around the water.”  
 
According to Wadleigh, Woodburn’s swimming program is also about more than just teaching proper swimming techniques.
 
“We do more than just teach kids how to swim — we also place a significant emphasis on the proper use of water-related safety equipment, such as life jackets. It doesn’t do you a whole lot of good to have a life jacket if just sits on the bottom of the boat or if you don’t know how to put it on correctly,” she said.
 
“We also teach kids to use safe methods for assisting other swimmers in distress. Youth with modest swimming skills often place their safety in jeopardy by entering the water to assist another swimmer in difficulty.
 
“Simple reaching and throwing techniques are far more effective and safe than jumping into the water to assist.”
 
Wadleigh said the Woodburn Aquatic Center recently released dates and times for swimming lessons that began right after the first of the year.
 
The center is currently accepting registrations and classes fill up quickly, so she encourages people to look for details in the city’s winter/spring activity guide, at the aquatic center or online at www.woodburnaquatics.org.
 
Registrations can be processed online, in person or over the telephone by calling the pool at 503-982-5288.  The pool is located at 190 Oak St.
 
“From a practical standpoint, winter is a great time to enroll children in swimming lessons,” said Wadleigh.
 
“With outdoor activities subsiding, children can be provided with many months of swimming lessons in preparation for the upcoming summer swimming season.”

Share   |   Email


Comments

We welcome comments from registered users. Comments are solely the responsibility of those who post them; their viewpoints are not endorsed by the Woodburn Independent and WoodburnIndependent.com. (read more)
Highlight
ship name
no comments have been added

(last 7 days)