Survival Day Information

VIDEO (see below)

Prepare by watching this video. 

If you have any students who can fall in without eyewear, make sure they do it without eyewear.

BEFORE IT STARTS

1. Arrive 15 minutes early to set the pool area up like you did for Open House. Include this on your invoice.

   1. Pool deck tidy.

   2. Set up chairs.

   3. Dry chair surfaces if they’re wet.

2. Kids should show up with clothing overtop of their swimsuits (see what we told parents about appropriate clothing here).

3. If kids don’t come prepared with the proper clothing (because they forgot, or their clothing is cotton, or dirty, etc.), do not reschedule their Survival Day. Have them remove the items that are incorrect before going into the pool. They will run it in their normal swimsuits.

4. Ensure parents have their plastic bag with them for them to put the wet clothing in after the lesson. If they don’t have one, give them a black Swim Fins bag to put them in.

5. Waiver: 

   1. ❌Any parents, grandparents, etc. who signed the waiver already for Open House do not need to sign it again.

   2. ✅Any parents, grandparents, etc. who did not sign the waiver for Open House (i.e. they were not there) must sign the waiver for Swim to Survive.

RUNNING SURVIVAL DAY

1. Put learning belts on all weak swimmers (over their clothing) that you anticipate will not be able to fall in, tread for one minute, and swim 50 meters without stopping in clothing.

2. Have kids sit in their lanes in the deep end.

3. Have kids welcome the parents to Survival Day.

4. Explain to the parents and kids that the purpose of the lesson is to expose children to what it would be like if they fell unexpectedly into deep water while fully clothed, giving them the tools needed to survive the fall and be more aware around the water.

5. Tell parents this is the first time the kids have been exposed to this continuous sequence, so bear with you, and have some laughs.

6. Explain to the kids that you will be doing a sequence of three things in clothing:

   1. Fall in

   2. Tread water

   3. Swim 50 meters

7. Once the kids understand, break up the skills so they can try each skill individually:

   1. Have kids all fall in from a sitting position - ❌no front flips ❌ like the video showed: teach them to kick off their shoes right away when they fall in, as it’s impossible to swim with shoes.

      1. Strong swimmers should be getting their eyes wet (no eyewear)

   2. Have kids all fall in and tread: they should continue to practice kicking off their shoes.

   3. Have kids fall in, tread, and swim 5 meters (after kicking off their shoes). They can use any stroke they want.

8. Once you’ve practiced, put it all together and have them do all three skills continuously without stopping: fall in, tread for one minute, and swim 50 meters.

   1. You can have the parents count their child’s five laps (especially with bigger classes).

9. Once all kids have completed their Swim to Survive, have them thank their parents for coming, and have parents clap for them.

10. Instruct parents to help their kids out of their wet clothing, wring the clothing out over the drain on the pool deck, then put the damp clothing into the plastic bag they brought (or Swim Fins bag you gave them).

    1. Do not let people leave the pool area with dripping clothing as this jeopardizes our hotel contract by creating a slipping hazard.

11. Finish the Survival Day lesson with kids in their bathing suits, swimming lengths with face in and no goggles. If all parents have not left yet, send them out.

12. Refer to the Survival Day page on our website that we sent parents, in case they have questions and you need help.