The Teaching of Swimming Based on a Model Derived from the Causes of Drowning

Abstract

This paper proposes that the teaching of beginner swimming should be organized according to the causes of drowning. We surveyed drowning reports, interviewed drowning survivors, and observed simulated drowning victims to determine common characteristics associated with drowning. We also reviewed 25 swimming instruc-tional programs offered by well-recognized national programs from 18 separate coun-tries and identified 8 common beginning swimming skills. These skills could be closely connected with the causes of drowning. We proposed a definition for being able to swim that should be given common international acceptance so that learning to swim can actually provide skills needed for preventing drowning. More than 400,000 people worldwide drown every year (Bierens, 2006). Many of these episodes are avoidable. The lack of basic attitudes, knowledge, and skills are often behind the tragedy. The causes of drowning should dictate the way we teach swimming, what children should learn. Yet the way we teach swimming has varied dramatically over time and still today there are many philosophies and methods that enjoy popularity. A post WW II phenomenon has been the commer-cialization of the teaching of swimming. Here the variety is even greater and an unfortunate number of teachers or schools emphasize that which is popular with parents (the paying client). While some research has been conducted, conclusions are vague and are not popularly known. After all, reason many, learning to swim is really quite simple; we all know what it means to swim or to be able to swim. But do we? Yes, it is simple. In the 1930s the eminent anthropologist Margaret Mead, while studying the Manus people of New Guinea, observed that it was as uncom-mon for a Manus child of four to be unable to swim as it was for a Western child of four to be unable to walk. But what was the ingredient that dictated success? Again, the answer is simple. These children, of people who lived by fishing, were in the water every day, all day. No one tried to teach them to swim, it happened naturally. It never occurred to any one that it would not happen and therefore was not an issue. Some modern researchers and educators even classify swimming as