Safe Swimming Tips

For adults: 

• Don’t swim alone – bring a friend. 
• Know your swim limitations and don’t follow friends past swimming boundaries.  
• Don’t swim and drink. Alcohol can affect your body’s ability to maintain its core temperature and lead to hypothermia, faster. 
• If you’ve had a drink and still want to swim, wear a life jacket. It’s hard for swimmers who wear life jackets properly to drown. 
• Even if water surface temperature is 70 degrees, just 5 feet down, it might only be 50 degrees. If you start shivering, that’s an early sign of hypothermia, and it’s time to get out of the water. 

For families with kids: 

• Pay close attention to kids near water at all times and don’t become distracted by your phone, even if there’s a lifeguard. It only takes a few moments for water to become dangerous for a little one.  
• Only allow kids to swim or play in areas watched by lifeguards.  
• Never leave a young child unattended near water and don’t trust a child’s life to another child. Teach kids to always ask permission to go near water. 
• Designate a person in your group to be the ‘water watcher’ when kids are near water.  

Check out even more water safety tips from the American Red Cross.