The association “Swim safely” and the Latvian Swimming Federation invite everyone to watch free classes on safe behaviour near and on the water. Four video lessons suitable for different ages with free access at any time convenient for teachers or parents.
Lessons are intended for kindergarten students in grades 1-4, grades 5-9 and for students of junior and senior grades, their duration is one lesson (40 minutes), sign language translation is also provided for two videos.
“Every adult should regularly talk to children and refresh their knowledge about safe behaviour near and on the water. Drowning can be prevented if you follow some basic rules – never swim alone, in an unknown place, never jump in headfirst and always put on a swimming vest for children near the water”, – says Zane Gemze, the founder of the “Swim Safely” association, inviting you to watch the lessons.
Why is it important to teach swimming and what are the most common causes of accidents? What is a safe swimming area? What is the correct and responsible behaviour when relaxing by the water and doing water sports? This question is answered during the lessons by presenters such as the attractive improviser, actor Artūrs Breidaks and Swimming Safely expert, swimming and sailing coach Toms Jēkabsons, as well as guests Tuta and Lapsa, Jānis Skutelis and Pauls Timrots.
“Video lessons represent a convenient format that I encourage teachers to use to talk about the rules that both adults and children must follow within one lesson. It is also important to talk about responsible behaviour near the water during children’s and youth camps. It is necessary to talk about water safety not only in spring, but to repeat it again and again, as every year more than 120 people drown in Latvia. Drowning is one of the three most common causes of death for children under the age of 14”, – says Aivars Platonovs, president of the Latvian Swimming Federation.
Free online lessons have been organised by the association “Swim safely” and the Latvian Swimming Federation for the second year. Almost 37,000 students applied for live broadcasts on 12 May, the highest interest, similar to last year, was in grades 1-4. Every fourth student watched the lessons; the number of views of students in live broadcasts and recordings reached 70,000 people. The lessons were also available on a free-to-air TV broadcast on the TV channel and freely available on the YouTube channel, thanks to which the total coverage is measured at more than 140,000 views.
The lessons are implemented as part of the social campaign “If you swim, swim safe! Don’t become a slug!”. The online lessons are co-financed by the Society Integration Foundation from Latvian state budget funds allocated by the Ministry of Culture as part of the “Summer is coming – remember about the safety on the water” project. The activity is performed within the framework of the NGO Foundation project “Support for strengthening activities of the Swimming Federation of Latvia (SFL) and protecting interests in the field of promoting human safety on the water” (project No. 2022.LV/NVOF/MAC/043/27). The Latvian Swimming Federation is responsible for the content of the activities.
