Thousands of people die or are injured from water safety accidents each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC recommends learning to swim and water safety instruction as two of the top preventive measures to decrease chances of drowning or water-accident injuries. Introducing non-swimmers to the water in ways that alleviate their fears, using a step-by-step progression to introduce the various arm and leg movements for strokes, and discussing water safety are the key components of an effective swimming lesson.
Step 1
Enter the water before the students to show them your confidence and ability to swim and save them, if necessary. Start by demonstrating a variety of strokes they will eventually learn. Demonstrate the techniques they will be learning that day, such as bobbing up and down, floating, practicing on the side of the wall and using a kickboard.
Step 2
Demonstrate how to enter the water safely, either using a ladder or sitting on the side of the pool, then lowering yourself into the water. Have swimmers pair up with a buddy, then have them follow your demonstrated method of entering the water.
Step 3
Bob up and down in the water with the students so they get used to going under water and coming back up in a controlled fashion. Have students perform a "dead man's float," leaning forward with their arms out at their sides, then lifting their feet off the pool or lake bottom to start floating, face down. Practice a reverse float, having students leaning backward.
Step 4
Demonstrate the "doggy paddle," using the arms to pull water toward you while kicking your feet similar to pedaling a bicycle. Emphasize keeping the head up and back. Have students practice the doggy paddle.
Step 5
Place your hands on the side of the pool in front of you to demonstrate the beginning of the crawl, including kicking. Lay out in the plank position, with your body fully extended, and demonstrate kicking with only a slight knee bend. Exaggerate the knee bend to produce large splashes, which are the sign of incorrect kicks. Have students practice kicking with their faces out of the water.
Step 6
Demonstrate kicking with your face in the water. Demonstrate turning your face to one side while you kick in order to breathe. Have students practice kicking and breathing.
Step 7
Demonstrate kicking and breathing while using a kickboard held in front of you. Have students practice this. Let students practice swimming in the plank position without a kickboard, holding their arms in front of them while you stand alongside them, supporting them slightly with one hand on their stomach. Let go and let them continue on their own, warning them that you will be letting them go prior to starting this practice.
Step 8
Demonstrate the proper arm movements for the crawl stroke. Have students practice in the shallow end while leaning forward, reaching forward and pulling water toward them. Have students practice the crawl stroke while you walk alongside them, supporting them under the stomach, then letting go about halfway across the width of the pool.
Step 9
Discuss problems that could arise when they are in a pool or lake. Discuss how to react to problems if you are in the water, or on the side of the pool or lake. Discuss self-rescue methods and various ways to effect a rescue of another swimmer, including calling or going for help if you are not a good swimmer. Discuss safe swimming conditions, including weather, with flotation devices and in crowded areas.
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