Advanced Aquatics

I know a lot of very academic students who do not enjoy sports. Perhaps they are shy, small, or scared of the ball, but for whatever reason they have, they are still not physically active. Swimming is a sport that challenges you intellectually and physically. I started a few years ago and now it is my favourite sport.

Before beginning advanced aquatics, the student should complete Aquaquest 12. This gives them the basic knowledge they need to succeed in the more difficult levels. Aquaquest teaches six strokes, water safety, ways to help people in distress, and 6 water related themes. It also makes the person swim 500 m in what is known as “endurance swim.”

Once you can perform skills at the Aquaquest level, you can enter the Bronze program. Bronze star is for 12 year olds and up. It is excellent preparation for future courses and it is also fun and rewarding. When you turn 13, you are able to complete Bronze Medallion, a program that teaches you how to be a lifesaver, how to do rescue breathing, and how to swim 500 m in a set amount of time. If you pass this course, you move on to Bronze Cross and Senior Resusitation. You have to be 14 to pass these ones. This is more advanced and you must have your Bronze Medallion to take it. You have to swim an even greater distance in a shorter amount of time. You learn CPR and how to perform rescues with 50 m swimming approaches, how to search the water, how to find submerged victims and other rescues. You also learn about the heart and respiratory system.

If you pass your Bronze Cross Exam, you have to wait two years before you can become a real lifeguard. With your Bronze Cross you can only be an assistant guard. When you turn 16 you can take your National Lifeguard Service Course. This course teaches you pool regulations, general pool chemistry, how to walk like a lifeguard, and how to rescue the real way. You learn to do Pia Carries (where you swim to a drowning victim, grab them from underneath and behind, and carry them to shore on your hip). You also learn to retrieve 20 pound weights 16 m underwater. Most of the time is spent on situations- learning to deal with problems lifeguards may encounter. Luckily there is no endurance swim. You also have to writer a written exam on knowledge to pass the

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