AY Honors/Swimming - Beginner/Answer Key 2

Receive the American Red Cross Level III Stroke Readiness or YMCA certificate or equivalent in Swimming–Beginner's OR pass the following requirements:

Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Swimming Instructor

1. Breath Holding. Face fully submerged, breath to be held at least ten seconds.

This is often the most significant barrier to overcome when a person is learning to swim. If you are faced with teaching this honor to a child who is fearful of getting his face wet, you must be patient. It may take multiple sessions at the pool (or wherever the lessons are taught). Here are some things to try:

• Don't go under - As a preliminary step have the child hold his breath without going under the water.
• Goggles - make sure they fit well. Sometimes the fear of getting the face wet is limited to only the eyes.
• Nose plug - This will prevent water from entering the nasal cavity and causing alarm.
• Rewards - Sometimes the offer of a reward will motivate a child to overcome his fear. Follow through, and do not offer a reward you cannot bestow.
• Swimming pool - Pools are less threatening than lakes, rivers, ponds, or oceans.

Do not try these:

• Berating - This will only make the child feel worse.
• Comparing to another child - This could strain the child's relationship with the person to whom he is compared.
• Force - Do not throw a child into the water or force his head under.

Dole out plenty of praise for every small success. He may not go under for the full ten seconds until after several attempts. Tell him you will tap him on the shoulder when the ten seconds are up (and then do it).

In difficult cases it is tempting to gloss over this step, but doing so is a huge mistake. The child must become comfortable in the water and overcome the fear over getting his face wet. Otherwise, he may attempt to keep his face above the surface when learning the next phases. This makes swimming exceedingly difficult and will only serve as a discouragement as the child advances. Master the basics first.

2. Rhythmic Breathing. Alternately inhale through the mouth above the surface and exhale through the mouth and nose, with head completely submerged, ten times rhythmically and continuously.

Demonstrate this before asking the child to do it. It is best to bend the knees to submerge with the head held erect rather than bend the spine and go into the water face first. There is no need to do this quickly. Go under, exhale slowly (over about two to five seconds). Then come up and inhale for one to two seconds (enough to fill the lungs).

3. Prone Float. In waist-deep water lie face down on the water and return to standing position without assistance or support.

Tell the child that it's OK to sink. The water is only waist deep, and he can easily stand. He should also be able to hold his breath for at least ten seconds while under water, and this step won't take nearly that long (but don't rush it). If the child is having difficulty, reassure him that you are there and can pull him out. Tell him he is not going to drown with you there with him.

4. Prone Glide. Push off face down in waist-deep water, take a prone position, glide a distance of at least two body lengths, and recover to a standing position.

Start by standing next to the edge of the pool so the child has something to push off of. Have the child raise one knee and place his foot against the pool wall. Then stretch out the upper torso to assume the prone position while raising the other foot. Push off and glide. The direction of glide should not take the child into deeper water. Tell him to hold the glide for as long as he can before standing. Two body lengths should not be a problem if the child glides for ten seconds, especially if he got a good push-off from the pool wall.

5. Supine Float. Assume a supine floating position face up in waist-deep water, hold the position with the face above water for at least ten seconds, and return to a standing position unaided.

This step often presents more difficulty to the child who does not want a wet face. Have him keep his torso, arms, legs, shoulders, and toes below the surface. Archimede's Principle tell us that only a small proportion of our weight can be kept out of the water while we float. In this exercise, that portion should be the face and not much else. Our bodies are only slightly less dense than water - about the same as a cube of ice. Even though an ice cube floats, most of it will be under water, and only a tiny portion will be above the surface. Because a human's density is about the same as an ice cube, the principle applies equally here.

It also helps to raise the chin.