When the weather gets warmer, families and friends flock to the beaches, lakes, and pools to cool off and enjoy one of the many perks of summertime – swimming. Although swimming can be a lot of fun, it’s important to know that there are some safety tips that you and your family should follow so everyone can stay safe and avoid accidents. Below are seven handy tips that you can use to keep you and the people you love safe while swimming.
1. Don’t Swim Alone
Always swim with someone else when you are swimming. You never know when you might hit your head or get a cramp, so you have trouble swimming. This important both for adults and kids. If you swim alone, there’s no one to help you.
2. Don’t Drink While Swimming
Alcohol will impair your coordination, the ability of your body to keep warm, your judgement and your balance. It can affect your safety and the safety of children that you are supervising, since you may not realize there’s a problem until it’s too late.
3. Use Life Jackets
These should be approved by the United States Coast Guard. Inexperienced and young swimmers might feel more comfortable using them, and it’s required in many places that there are enough life jackets on board a boat for children under a certain age.
4. Avoid Hyperventilating
You shouldn’t breathe faster or deeper before you swim underwater. You also shouldn’t try holding your breath for extended periods of time since this can lead to swimmers passing out and drowning. It’s better to just try relaxing and breathing normally while you’re swimming.
5. Get into the Water Feet First
This is especially important if you’re not sure how deep the water is. When you dive head-first, you may hit the bottom and sustain a serious injury. Only dive in when the area’s marked clearly to be safe to dive.
6. Test the Water’s Temperature Before Entering
If you jump into water that’s really cold, it can cause a shock to your body and increase your blood pressure and heart rate. It also can slow down your muscles, which will make it hard for you to swim.
7. Keep Your Phone Handy
These days, just about everyone has a phone. The last thing you want is to waste precious seconds going to grab a phone to call for help. Invest in a waterproof bag and keep it close by so that if there’s an emergency you can call 911 immediately.
These are just seven handy tips that you can use to help the summer be enjoyable for everyone and to keep everyone safe and healthy. The last thing you want is to have someone be seriously injured or worse because a mistake was made, or someone was unprepared.
Looking for more ways that you can keep your loved ones and friends safe? Keep checking back to our site or contact me for swimming lessons. I am happy to teach all ages, kids and adults.