Taking tests

Taking tests in Lifesaving can be quite unnerving. I can say it gives as much pressure as during school's exams. The desire to do well and not fail burns in them. Congratulations to my students who have passed their CPR exams on 26th and 27th Dec'07. I know that you burnt your weekends and christmas in order to prepare for the CPR exam. Now you can concentrate your efforts on BM! A job well done!!

Pictures

A mosaic made using pictures taken by me of my students. They are the fourth batch of lifesavers I've trained. See the smiles on their faces? Haha. No doubt training was tough, but I can sense that they have all grown up and matured. For some of them, they are undergoing a very tough year ahead. The 'O' Levels! I wish them all the best sincerely! I hope they put in as much effort in their studies as they did in lifesaving trainings if not more.


The fifth batch of lifesavers under me. Although they are very naughty during training, they still give their all when the going gets tough! "Apply that to your studies and I'm sure you will go very far!" - A note from me to them.

Pursuing Lifesaving

The path of lifesaving beckons when you want to further the learning in swimming. Afterall, learning how to swim can be categorised under protecting yourself in my opinion. Lifesaving is learning how to save others' lives.

One might think that brawn wins all in lifesaving. No doubt that you need strength in lifesaving. Imagine, a victim is in the water struggling and he weights approximately 80kg. (No pun intended) A person's weight decreases dramatically in the water, but what happens if he needs to be pulled ashore to safety? Strength plays a part too. It also plays a part in administering Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) too! Strength is needed to compress the chest to a certain depth in a bid to pump the heart thereby allowing blood to circulate throughout the body.

However, brawn does not win the war alone! A thinking lifesaver coupled with a strong lifesaver will win outright. Why do I say this is because a thinking lifesaver thinks of the best possible way to save a victim while a strong lifesaver makes things easier by doing the tough part. (Think of the 80kg victim in the water)

Therefore, my main motive in promoting lifesaving is to inculcate a lifesaver who thinks and has the strength to complete the rescue. Despite this, I firmly believe that no lifesaver is alone. With another (or more) lifesaver(s) together, a successful rescue can be initiated. Teamwork says it all!

The path of lifesaving begins with the basics. Lifesaving 1 2 3 are the basis from which is to prepare students en route to Bronze Medallion. Land-based; water-based rescues and resuscitation are taught in Lifesaving 1 2 3 while Bronze Medallion (BM) incorporates them with the added touches of speed, stamina and endurance.

To be able to be employed as a Lifeguard in Singapore, he/she must possess BM and CPR as well as past the minimum age of working in Singapore.

The path of Lifesaving does not end with BM and CPR. From it, the path branches out into two ways. Open Water Lifesaving and Still Water Lifesaving.

Open Water Lifesaving comprises of Bronze Cross and Silver Cross. They are various lifesaving rescue techniques that are performed at seaside. Examples are using canoes; surfboards; fins; torpedo buoy as rescue aids. Theoretical part will include how to handle aquatic emergencies faced at seaside, like being stung by a jelly fish; underwater searching in seaside conditon etc.

Still Water Lifesaving is a continuation of BM and CPR. Students will be able to challenge themselves in the practical aspects. Regarding the practical aspects, they are no doubt almost the same as BM but the distance between the victim and rescuer are increased. They are Award of Merit and Distinction. As for theoretical aspects, students will cover more questions than in BM. This is to better prepare them as a smarter lifesaver which sets them apart from students who completed BM only.

Some pictures

Below are some pictures of my students learning swimming.

WAE III

A continuation of the Water Adventure Experience. My students (in the picture) had successfully completed their elementary and intermediate levels. Equipped with the confidence, they have decided to embark on a higher level of swimming which is the Survival Swimming Course. This course is commonly known as the NASSA Awards. It consists of Bronze, Silver, Gold and GoldStar awards.


This is where they will hone their swimming skills further in the different NASSA elements. The different elements are listed below:

"Speed swimming".
"Drown Proofing".
"Treading water with one hand".
"Undress and make float with attire".
"Surface dives and submerged swimming".
"Distance swimming using different swimming strokes".
"Climb out of swimming pool with no aid required".

Although the elements are quite similar to the Intermediate levels, students are trained to perform them for a longer period of time thereby increasing their survival skills. With this, ends the WAE and a new journey embarks through Lifesaving.

WAE II

After the completion of Elementary Levels I & II, students will no longer be afraid of the water. They have acquired the basic water confidence. Now, it is time for them to conquer their fear of deeper water bodies. By now, students will have been taught to swim using Frontcrawl (freestyle) and Breaststroke (frog style).

They will move on to Intermediate Level I & II. Basically they will be learning to swim longer distances which constitutes to the breadth (25m) and length (50m) of the pool. They will also be taught how to Tread Water, Dive deeper into the water and perform a technique called Drown Proofing.

I will now break down the skills that will be taught.

"Treading Water". It can also literally mean "standing" in the water. It is performed with a combination of breaststroke kick and hand pulling in a vertical direction to acheive the effect of treading water.

"Surface Dive Skills". In Elementary Levels, students will be able to dive down to a depth of 1.2m. However, for Intermediate Levels, students will be expected to be able to go to a depth of 1.8m with confidence. This is to train them to swim beneath any floating obstacles on the water.

"Drown Proofing". This skill is a combination of floating face down and breaststroke breathing. The main purpose of learning this skill is that people may develop cramp in their leg muscles while swimming. While waiting for help to arrive, they can survive longer during the waiting period with minimum effort.

Intermediate Level II students will be swimming the length of the swimming pool (50m). In addition, I will be teaching them a new stroke, Backstroke. This is to prepare them for the NASSA Awards. Skills learned during Intermediate Level I will also be honed such that the students will be able to perform them for a longer period of time.

Beginning of the Water Adventure Experience. (WAE)

Learning how to swim comes in several levels. It starts with Elementary Level I & II. In short, students in Elementary Level will accquire skills that imbuilds in them "Water Confidence Skills", "Floating and Recovery (Standing up in the water after floating) skills", "Kicking Skills", "Surface Dive Skills" and "Squat Dive into waters".

Allow me to elaborate more in the different skills the students will learn.

"Water Confidence Skills". Students will have to place their face into the water and hold their breaths for a short amount of time. They will also be asked to submerge their heads and open their eyes under water.

"Floating and Recovery Skills". They will learn how to float facing down and facing up in the water before recovering. Recovering means standing up from a floating position.

"Kicking Skills". Basic kicking skills will be taught. Mainly flutter kick and breaststroke kick with and without aid of kicking board.

"Surface Dive Skills". Objects may accidentally drop to the bottom of a water body and the need to retrieve it arises. The fastest way to do so is by performing a surface dive. For elementary levels, students will be taught how to go to a depth of 1.2m (max).

"Entry to water Skills". To encourage more water confidence, squat dive entries into the water will be taught. They will be squat diving with kicking board for practice purposes and henceafter, without the aid of kicking board.

My 1st Lifesaving Class in 2004

The above is the pioneer batch of lifesavers whom I have trained when I was first appointed as Lifesaving Instructor. The kids in the group were very estatic. The adults were more focused as this course could pave the way to a career in teaching swimming, lifesaving or aqua-aerobics.

Lifesaving Course includes Practical and Theory aspects. Theory is a must as the lifesavers need to have the knowledge on how-to-do and what-to-do if they really encounter situations after the course. Lifesaving is not entirely based on brawn but also on brains too. I believe that a thinking lifesaver beats a brute strength lifeaver any time.

Creation of A2 Aquatic

Swimming and lifesaving has been my passion for the past 10 years. With the backing of my parents, A2 Aquatic was set up to promote swimming and lifesaving to the masses. The motto of A2 Aquatic is "Everyone can Swim! Everyone can help Save Lives!"