When I heard on the news this week that one in three children can’t tread water, I wasn’t surprised. Last week, my seven-year old son and his friend ran into difficulty in our pool which resulted in me jumping in fully clothed to rescue them. His father thanked me and hoped that I didn’t ruin my watch; as far as I was concerned the only things that were of any value were flailing around in the pool.
Both boys have swum a lot together in our pool this summer with my supervision and no issues. As we have a swimming pool, our son Benjamin has had plenty of practice and can swim confidently – he will happily jump in with no swimming aids. But his friend has not received as much exposure to water and has not had any swimming lessons. He explained afterwards that he sometimes struggled to tread water.
The terrifying episode occurred when my son’s friend called him over in the water and proceeded to use Benny’s shoulders and head as a buoyancy aid in an effort to stay afloat. Both boys were shouting and Benny was intermittently coming up for air whilst his friend was using him as life support.
Shorts
I first thought they were play-fighting. I shouted at his friend to stop and when he didn’t, I realised they were struggling, and jumped in fully clothed. I know every second counts and I wasn’t taking any risks. They were in the middle of the pool, out of their depth but comfortable for me to stand in.
