Beginning swimming class at Bellows Beach on Crystal Lake. Photo courtesy of Diane Tracy, Benzie Aquatic Center.
By Stewart A. McFerran
Swimming is elemental, the joy of it and the fear of it. The danger of it can be existential for those without the training to enter the water. As one who has taught “Safety Around Water” at Grand Traverse Bay YMCA for the last five years, I have assisted numerous young students. I have kept my students safe while in the pool. We instructors hope to give kids skills that will keep them safe while swimming in lakes and rivers, as well as in the pool.
The YMCA Safety Around Water program is supported by donations from the community. Students from area schools attend the five-week session which includes pool safety, beach safety and boating safety. Some students step off the bus and enter the pool already afraid of the water. If those students can learn a few things and forget their fear, they can swim. If they refuse to enter the pool, I feel I have failed.
Learning water safety essentials
Forgetting your fear can be dangerous, but, at the same time, is required to learn to swim. There is a group we call “clingers,” and it is amazing how hard a small hand can cling on to a big arm. At the point where I am told in no uncertain terms, “I don’t need help,” I have succeeded. Yet, that is the time when the instructor needs to be most watchful.
Reach, throw, but don’t ever go” is our mantra. Certified lifeguards can jump in the pool to help someone in trouble, but when they do a flotation tube comes with them. Non-swimmers who attempt to help someone in the water can themselves get into trouble. That is the first lesson of safety around water. Students are taught that they can reach out with an object to help someone in the water, or they can throw something that floats to the person in trouble. But don’t ever go.
Wearing a life jacket is the central topic when addressing boating safety. It is most important to find a personal flotation device that you like and that fits well. If you do, you will be more likely to wear it while on the water, and it may save your life.
Area pools and water safety
I surveyed six area pools to find out if any offer swimming lessons and/or water safety. While doing so, I discovered the challenges they face.
Corey VanFleet, director of aquatics for the Paine Aquatic Center of Manistee, said that as part of the youth swimming program they address safety-around-water issues. This summer the program saw 75 kids at the pool, which is owned and managed by Manistee Area Public Schools and located at Manistee High School on Twelfth Street.
“We just finished our summer swimming program; those kids are age 5-19,” VanFleet said.
The swimmers were recently treated to a picnic as the summer program was wrapping up.
Aquatics Director Erin Brown, of the West Shore Community College Recreation Center, located on Stiles Road between Ludington and Scottville, said that learning to swim and water safety are extremely important due to the number of drownings in Ludington last year.
“It’s crazy how many people don’t know how to swim, and we are right next to Lake Michigan,” Brown said.
She also indicated that they currently aren’t offering swim classes and may not offer them when school resumes.
“Every fall we struggle with (hiring) lifeguards,” she said. “It’s going to hit us hard this year; it sounds like our (swim) instructor wants to come back this year. But, at this time, we are not sure if we are going to bring back classes yet, because of our lifeguard situation.”
Brown said West Shore’s pool schedule is completed month by month. Currently, the pool is closed Saturdays and Sundays in summer but open weekdays for lap swimming “most of the time,” with a 4-7 p.m. open swimming period on Fridays.
Pere Marquette River flows beside the campground of the Riverside Park in Scottville. The park’s municipal pool is open to campers and Scottville residents. Swimmers like to use the park’s outdoor heated pool during the summer months. Jennifer Faris, the park manager, said three sessions of swimming lessons were offered this summer by instructor Tess Hallead-Versluis.
“My main goal in teaching is focused on basic water safety,” Hallead-Versluis said. “We live in an area surrounded by water, therefore, it is important to me that kids know not only how to swim but also know what to do in an emergency.”
Aquatic activities will resume when the Donald C. Baldwin Community Pool in Ludington reopens, which is expected to happen by September. The pool, located on Tinkham Avenue, closed in April due to mechanical issues. Funds for pool maintenance were included in a bond voters approved several years ago, according to Brent Gillette, the recreation director. A statement on the pool’s website indicated that the American Red Cross offers swimming lessons through the city’s recreation department.
Diane Tracy has a background in development and is spearheading efforts to create a Benzie Aquatic Center. The project has engaged experts from the Isaac Sports Group for a feasibility study. The Benzie County Aquatic Center group is finding support for a year-round indoor pool, but pools are expensive to build and even more expensive to maintain and staff. The need is there, as evidenced by the response that Tracy and a group of volunteer swimming instructors are getting this summer. They offered a young persons’ swimming program on Mondays and Fridays at Bellows Beach on Crystal Lake. The program filled right away, and they had to turn away prospective students.
Grand Traverse Bay YMCA Aquatics Director Ryan Slade has also seen a high demand for swimming lessons, and he struggles to retain lifeguards. He has, himself, been working 80 hours a week just to keep the pools in Traverse City open.
Aquatic programs create community. Regular visits to an aquatic center can lead to fitness and a sense of well-being. Swimming is a lifelong pursuit that brings joy to those who immerse themselves in the activity. Maximizing safety in and around bodies of water should be a priority for all, not just for those living near the lakeshore.
S.A. McFerran learned to swim at the public beach in his hometown of North Muskegon. He swam laps in the lake in all weather, while his swimming instructors sat in a rowboat. He is currently a certified swimming instructor and part of the aquatics team at the Grand Traverse Bay YMCA.
The mindfulness of lifeguards
By Stewart A. McFerran
Have you seen a lifeguard at a beach on Lake Michigan lately? I think not. Around the time “Baywatch” was being shown on TV, lifeguards were being pulled from public beaches all along the big lake. But that decision has had consequences.
Dave Benjamin, of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, said that there have been 22 drownings on Lake Michigan so far this year.
“Last year was the deadliest year on Lake Michigan,” he said. “We are right on pace to have another record year for drownings in Lake Michigan.”
Benjamin contends that lifeguards are cost effective when compared to the expensive proposition of body recovery.
Manistee’s Paine Aquatic Center director Cory VanFleet said each spring the center trains lifeguards and this year trained 32.
“We need adults that want part-time lifeguard jobs during the day, when the kids are in school,” he said. “We used to have a full lifeguard staff on the Manistee beaches, but that was years ago.”
Erin Brown, aquatics director for the West Shore Community College Recreation Center, said she recalls there always being lifeguards at Stearns Beach in Ludington when she was younger.
“They got rid of the lifeguard stand they used to have and instead they put posts with little buttons on them and life rings, and if there is an emergency, I guess you are supposed to hit the button.
“They do have a beach cop that goes around,” she added. “It is usually someone in his late teens who walks around. He is obviously not a lifeguard. That’s the direction they have gone since getting rid of their lifeguards.”
There is no better way to practice your “mindfulness” than to become a lifeguard and scan the water for your fellow humans who might need help. If you want to support your local pool, get trained and work a few shifts at the pool as a lifeguard. You are required to swim, practice lifesaving skills and assist swimmers.
Please support your local pool.
Water-Safety 101: Lifesaving Tips
Excerpted from Munson Medical Center’s Healthcare Blog post, June 28, 2021.
Reprinted by permission.
BASIC SWIMMING TIPS
• Learn how to swim.
• Swim in designated areas.
• Don’t swim alone or allow others to do so.
• Avoid alcohol.
• Beware (of) rip currents.
• Stay out of the water during thunderstorms and other severe weather.
• Don’t exceed your swimming ability.
• Check the water level before diving into any body of water and learn how to dive properly when entering unknown waters.
• Think twice about open-water swimming.
• Stay clear of chilly water.
• Learn what to do when someone is (in danger of or) drowning.
Read the entire water-safety blog post at: https://munsonhealthcare.org/blog/water-safety-101-lifesaving-tips
