Teaching Tips: Open Water Activities

1. Practice the syllabus of skills for the open water awards in the swimming pool before actually going to the venue. This will ensure your candidates understand the requirements and can demonstrate the skills well. It will also cut down the number of training sessions – very useful if your venue is not easily accessible.
2. Ensure your Branch has done its annual Site Evaluation (forms available from Branch Honorary Secretaries or River House).
3. Check the weather forecast before even thinking of getting changed.
4. Book in with your lifeguards and check when they are available.
5. Follow the guidance given in the current Policy Statements.
6. Check air, water and wind chill temperatures. If the water is warmer than the air keep people submerged up to their shoulders when talking to them.
7. Give all of your instructions BEFORE anyone gets wet.
8. Check the requirements for clothing and wet suits. It is very frustrating to turn up and find swimmers only have T-shirts to swim in.
9. Ensure your swimmers have brought warm clothing, a warm drink and something to eat when they get out of the water.
10. All swimmers need footwear to swim in. It’s no fun having a cut foot.
11. Ensure that everyone is wearing a brightly coloured swim cap. The cap will retain body heat and you can see where your swimmers are.
12. Keep everyone close to the shore and work under the direction of the lifeguards.
13. Start with a short introductory swim and build up from that.
14. Have a swear-box to swell funds! People express themselves in interesting ways when entering cold water. If the fee is high enough, perhaps the swimmers will only use inoffensive expletives.
15. Have a good variety of typical rescue aids. See ‘Lifesaving’ page 72 where a list of aids used in actual rescues is given.
16. Use binoculars to see the faces of your swimmers. Watch them for signs of cold or distress. They are also useful for checking on technique.
17. Use an insulator, such as bin liners, to wrap around swimmers when they are out of the water. They act as windbreaks and provide very useful shelter.
18. Make the sessions fun and enjoyable and people will come back again next year.