Water Competency Skills Are Important for All Ages

By: Gabriela Murza, MS, MCHES, Professional Practice Extension Assistant Professor, Health and Wellness/HEART Initiative

Life Jacket By A Pool

As the days are getting hotter and summer is approaching, individuals and families are making vacation plans, maybe to warm, sunny places near a beach or lake where they can swim and play in the water. Even if someone is not going to a body of water, they might have a pool in their backyard or live on a lake or reservoir. For these reasons alone, many people learn how to swim so they can stay safe in the water.

However, water competency is more than swimming well and is not only for young children. Even if a household doesn't have a pool, they most likely have a bathtub in their house or maybe an ornamental pond in their backyard. Any of these can lead to drowning events. The Utah Department of Health and Human Services (UDHHS) reported that between 2011-2020, 34% of drownings happened in open water (e.g., rivers, lakes, canals), 28% in swimming pools, and 21% in bathtubs (UDHHS, 2022). Another 17% occurred in other or unknown locations, which the American Red Cross (ARC) attributes to things like buckets, hot tubs, and other sources of shallow water (ARC, 2024). Drownings can occur from things like swimming inexperience, slipping or tripping, or being under the influence, and don’t always end in deaths, but drownings are considered preventable with good planning and preparation.

Water competency skills improve water safety for the swimmer and others and can be developed through three elements: Water Smarts, Swimming Skills, and Helping Others (ARC, 2024).

  1. Water Smarts include taking precautions even if someone is not going to swim. These include knowing limitations (e.g., physical strength, swimming skill, taking medications), never swimming alone, wearing a life jacket if needed, not swimming under the influence of alcohol or other substances, and understanding different water environments (e.g., rip currents, shallow or unclear water, underwater hazards).
  2. The ARC recommends learning five Swimming Skills for open water areas and swimming pools, but some can be used in shallow areas like bathtubs and smaller pools.
    • Skill 1: Enter water that’s over the person’s head (the person is submerged), then return to the surface by pushing off of the bottom or swimming to a shallower area.
    • Skill 2: Float in or tread water for at least one minute. Treading can be done using a scissor kick or egg-beater kick that water polo players use.
    • Skill 3: Turn over and turn around in the water to get access to air as quickly as possible.
    • Skill 4: Swim at least 25 yards, which is the size for standard backyard pools and athletic/training pools.
    • Skill 5: Exit the water by lifting oneself out if there are no steps, ladders, or a shallow end available. One way is to do a standing pushup until the upper half of the body is out of the water (arms are straight now), lift one leg to get the knee onto the pool’s edge and push down to bring the body higher, then bring up the other leg and place the knee on the edge. At this point the person can stand up on their feet or crawl farther away from the edge before standing up.
    • Water Safety USA includes two more:
      • Skill 6: Breath control in times of stress to avoid hyperventilating and potentially blacking out.
      • Skill 7: Being able to perform all of the skills while clothed, but it’s important to practice this with someone watching in case there is an emergency.
  1. Helping Others involves skills to help prevent and respond to emergencies if they occur, including paying attention to children or weak swimmers of any age and not leaving them unattended around any body of water (including bath tubs), recognizing the signs of a drowning emergency, knowing how to respond safely to assist someone, and knowing CPR and First Aid.

Other ways to stay safe: make sure to drain small pools or other sources of water when they aren’t in use, have protective fencing with a lock around a pool at home, designate an adult to actively watch those who are around water, and teach children to ask for permission before entering the water (ARC, 2024; UDHHS, 2022). For a complete list of the three elements from the ARC and to find information about classes for learning water competency skills, go to https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-emergencies/water-safety.html.

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