Water Safety. Sounds boring...it wasn't!

Ye-Young - I really enjoyed the water safety activities. The one activity that I enjoyed the most was when we got to get under a flipped boat. I enjoyed it because it was very exhilarating. Another thing that I really enjoyed was when Mr Brown was spraying us with a hose, it was really funny. I am really thankful to the instructors that taught us and also for the people who fundraised for us so that we could do water safety. I hope that when I go to high school there will be similar activities.

Hannah - I really liked the swimming. My favourite day so far has been Thursday because we got to wear lifejackets and use the boats. I liked going under the boat. It was fun jumping into the pool and just floating back up.

Annabel - I have really enjoyed swimming for the whole week. My favourite part was when you had your life jacket and you would jump in and then the guy would push you all the way down to the bottom of the pool and then you would float back up and swim to the other end.

Taylor - The first day of swimming was kind of boring because we just did lengths. The second day was better because we got to do manus and bombs. The third and the last days were the best because we got to use boats and learn how to survive if the boat was turned over.

Marcus -I have really enjoyed the swimming that we had this year. It was fun and interactive and that made it a really easy thing to enjoy! It has really helped me improve in most of the aspects of my swimming and in teaching me new stuff about surviving in the water I never knew before. It was a really great and helpful experience and I hope to do something similar in the future.

Zoe S - My favourite part about swimming was getting to go in the boat because I really liked getting to flip out of it. Swimming has been really fun and I have enjoyed it heaps. 

Elizabeth - Swimming got better as the week went on. I really enjoyed the boat because we got to fall backwards off the boat.

Libby - I really enjoyed water safety because it was a lot of fun, helped us to feel safer in the water and to know what to do if we are ever in trouble. My favourite part of water safety was when we had to make a huddle within 10 seconds and Mr Brown was spraying us with the hose to make it feel like freezing waves hitting us. I didn’t enjoy having my life jacket tightened because it made it hard to breath.

Matthew - My favourite part of swimming was swimming in our pyjamas. Swimming in clothing made it really hard to kick because they soaked up the water and became very heavy. I also enjoyed using the throw bags and rescuing my friends.

Luca - The best part about swimming was when we got to climb into the boat then jumping out.

Aysha - I really enjoyed swimming because I learned lots of new water safety skills. My favourite part was when we got to wear life jackets and jump in the pool. Our instructor would push us down to the bottom of the pool and our life jackets would make us float up and then we had to swim to the end of the pool. 

Thomas - I enjoyed swimming a lot because the instructors were fun and I learned a lot while I was having fun. I feel that if I was in an emergency I would be more prepared to survive. I can’t believe how much I learned in 5 days.

Harrison - I really liked the swimming lessons it was really fun and wasn't just a normal swimming lesson and I liked how it showed you what to do in a real life situation.

Oli - I enjoyed water safety. Thursday was the best day for me because I got to jump into a boat and scuba dive off the back of it, I also got to wear a life jacket and learn how to enter the pool in a new way.

Andre - I really liked the swimming because it taught me what to do when my boat flipped and if i’m stuck in the sea it teaches me what stroke to do to get back to land.

Riley - I really enjoyed swimming because I like getting into the water. My favourite part was when you went in the boat and went under the boat. I really want to do it again next year.

Rose I - I enjoyed water safety because we got to wear clothes in the water and see what it feels like to have clothes on if you fell in the water. We also got to save each other and we got to go on this boat. I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would.

Lincoln - I enjoyed swimming because it was fun and easy. It was saving people’s lives. My best part was saving people’s lives because I got to pull them in with a rope. I did not like wearing life jackets because they were really tight. 

Paige - I have really enjoyed doing water safety this week because I had so much fun learning about water safety. It taught me know how to keep myself safe in the water and what to do if i'm on a boat and it sinks. I enjoyed learning how to use a life jacket. My favourite lesson was when we learned how to get off and on a boat and we had to help other people on and when Mr Brown was spraying the hose to act like cold waves.

Amber H - Something I enjoyed at water safety was going under the boat into the air pocket and also doing a canon ball in to the water. I liked learning new and interesting things. Another fun thing that we did was swimming in our PJs. It was really hard to float while taking off our PJs in the water.

Julie - I have enjoyed swimming this week even though it was a bit had to breathe in life jackets and I didn't really know how to swim. I made quite a bit of progress in my opinion because I learnt how to do a starfish, go underwater and I can kind of swim. I liked learning about the different items in the emergency bag and saving Iris from the water. I was scared when I heard we had to jump off a boat but it wasn't too bad.

Iris - I enjoyed doing water safety because it’s fun and useful. I was scared when I heard that we will jump off a boat. I learned a lot of new skills that can help me to survive when I’m lost in the sea/ocean or I have an emergency. Also, I learned a lot of different ways of swimming like dolphin dive. We learned how to rescue people when they’re drowning and different skills. The teachers showed us an emergency bag which has a horn, medicine, food and two waterproof radio speaker that can float. I enjoyed doing water safety I hope we can still do it next year.

Joey - Swimming was kind of fun but Thursday was the best because we were able to jump in a boat and wear lifejackets and it was fun swimming with your friends

Missy - I really enjoyed doing water safety because I learnt how to dive and then I think I came 3rd in the smallest splash dive. We also learnt how to get out of the boat and into it if is was upside down. Every lesson we practised freestyle, survival backstroke and sculling. Overall I really enjoyed going to water safety because if my dad's raft flipped I would know what to do. I also got to jump in twice to help Ashley get in.

Rose B - I really enjoyed swimming this week because we got to learn a lot of new swimming safety skills. But some of the time the things we were doing were a bit basic for me and did not help me. My favourite thing that we have done so far is climbing onto the boat, falling out of the boat and going in the air pocket when the boat was upside down. Overall it was a fun experience and I learned a lot.

Jennifer - Swimming was really helpful to me because before I started this programme I couldn’t swim at all, but from the first lesson I took, I knew how to swim and float. I'm happy with myself because now that I can swim, I can survive, this was definitely worth the money and time. It helped me a lot, and now I know what to do when I somehow end up in the water unexpectedly.

Did your child enjoy their Water Skills for Life program? Do they want to continue their water skills journey? To learn more about becoming a Swimsmart member and having unlimited swimming, go to Christchurch City Council Swim Safe.