Bathing Rules / Safety

Water can bring a lot of fun and joy, but it also carries certain risks. Compared to road traffic, for example, these risks are relatively low. Still, it makes sense to be aware of the dangers at the pool, and a few simple rules of conduct can greatly reduce the existing risk.
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In general, we'd first like to point out that safety should always be the top priority. For the Swimy swim system, we have therefore selected only exercises with a very low risk of accidents for children. However, you must consider that children's swimming abilities, local conditions (lake, indoor pool, outdoor pool) and parents' understanding of water safety are key factors that make each exercise more or less safe. That's why you must assess the risk of each exercise yourself. We cannot accept any liability for our offering. In the following sections, we describe the most important safety aspects at the pool.

General duty of supervision

What many parents don't know — and which therefore absolutely must be mentioned first — is the duty of supervision you have toward your children. You are responsible for supervising your children, not the pool lifeguards. This is required by law and also makes practical sense. A lifeguard often has to supervise several hundred swimmers and can never see everything at once.

So never let your children out of your sight.

Swimming accidents

The most common swimming accidents happen through tripping and slipping or through jumping in. The floor in outdoor and indoor pools is incredibly slippery and there are hard edges everywhere. Serious accidents can happen especially when jumping into the water carelessly — both from the pool edge and from the diving board. Finally, water slides should be mentioned. Accidents happen there too when bathers don't leave enough distance between each other.
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For these reasons, there are a few simple rules:
No running at the pool.
No-jumping signs must be observed. You must also always make sure first that no swimmer is in the way before jumping into the water, and for open water the rule is: never jump into murky water.
On the slide, always observe the traffic lights (if present). Otherwise, always leave enough distance so that it's impossible to catch up with the person ahead.

Drowning

Although very rare, it happens that children drown even in crowded pools. The danger is that, because of films and television, many people have a completely wrong idea of how drowning unfolds. People don't flail their arms wildly and don't have the strength to scream. Drowning is usually silent and, especially with children, can easily be mistaken for a harmless dive. Parents must also clearly understand that flotation aids do not protect against drowning. Children belong on lake or river outings only when accompanied by adults who can swim and wearing life jackets.

So, once again: never let your child out of your sight.
Also, don't take any risks — never swim far out with your child in open water.
The same applies to our exercises: only do the exercises where you are certain you could get your child out of the water immediately, at any time and under any circumstances.

Hypothermia, illnesses and cardiovascular health

These three points should also be heeded. Regarding hypothermia, be especially careful with infants, as they aren't yet able to generate their own heat through active body movement or shivering. Germs and bacteria can be present at the pool as anywhere else, but the chlorine in the water kills off most of them. For infants, the water should be of drinking-water quality. Regarding cardiovascular problems, above all avoid rapid temperature drops and don't eat anything 20 minutes before swimming.

Don't stay too long in cold water with your children. Watch for symptoms of hypothermia. The first signs are skin discoloration, especially on the lips, hands and feet. For infants, 20 minutes is a good guideline.
Follow the usual hygiene measures at the indoor pool (showering, going to the toilet regularly).
Don't drink pool water.
Don't jump into cold water when overheated.
Don't eat anything in the 20 minutes before swimming.

What to do in an emergency?

If an accident does happen at the pool, the most important thing is not to act rashly and to stay calm. After that, the best course of action depends on the type of accident and your first-aid skills. But be sure to get help. Most pools have an emergency button. Also ask the people around you for help — someone should fetch the lifeguard, another call the emergency services, and someone stays with the victim and looks after them.

Whenever you enter a new pool, always find out where the lifeguard supervision and the emergency buttons are.