You’ve spent years around the water – at the beach, your local pool, or maybe even a backyard pond. You may love splashing around with your floaties, or maybe just tanning on the sidelines. But if you’re in or around the water this summer, have you thought about the five basic swim safety skills that could save your life in the water?
As part of a national campaign to reduce the drowning rate by 50 percent over the next three to five years, the Red Cross released national survey data that shows that most children and teens cannot perform the sequence of all five basic swimming safety skills.
So how do you fare? Take our quiz to find out!
“As a water safety instructor, nothing makes my day more than seeing a child who used to be afraid of the water have the confidence to dive into the deep end and swim to the other side,” said Connie Harvey, director of the Red Cross Centennial Initiative. “The Red Cross created the first national water safety program in the U.S. – and today it’s still the gold standard, training more than two million people annually.”
To find classes for your family, contact your local aquatic facility and ask for American Red Cross swimming and water safety programs, or visit redcross.org.