Our venues provide the opportunity for a range of people with varying swimming abilities to utilise our facilities. It is really important that our venues know the local demographics and tailor their supervision strategies to ensure that everyone can enjoy the water without the additional fear of something going wrong.
In 2016, we led the industry in implementing our “Are you a non-swimmer?” initiative, targeted at those who come from cultural and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds to self-identify to our team if they considered themselves a weak or non-swimmer, where we would provide an orange wristband for easy identification for our lifeguards.
However, our demographics are broader than this. We have older adults, individuals with disabilities, people with medical conditions and children who we would consider vulnerable populations that require extra attention to maintain their safety in the water.
These swimmers may have a different stroke than what we are accustomed to. They may be self-taught swimmers, they may stop regularly to catch their breath or they may have a carer with them while they swim. These are all early indicators that they may require extra supervision.
Some key actions for anyone that notices a vulnerable swimmer within our venues:
- Actively supervising weak swimmers
- Provide an orange wristband and give them comfort that we are here to make their visit enjoyable and log a lifeguard Intervention
- Getting to know your regulars and their health history
- Educating swimmers on safe swimming zones in your venue which may be leisure pools, side lanes or shallow spaces
- Promote adult Learn to Swim opportunities at your venue
- Explain the dangers of getting out of your depth and sticking to their swimming capabilities
- Understand how to use the accessibility equipment in your venue and the best way for those with disabilities to access the water
- Communicate with your team. Everyone can play a role in helping all of our community enjoy the water
- Review your signage at the point of entry and around the pools. Do you have multi-lingual signage appropriate to the local community?
Don’t forget our Triple A’s for Aquatic Safety – Be Alert, Be Aware and Be Active at all times! We never know when someone is going to need our assistance!