06/Dec/2011
CHILDREN accidentally drowning in home swimming pools can be prevented.
There is an easy and not expensive way to stop the unnecessary death of children through drowning.
In 1962, I built a large swimming pool in my new home in Applecross.
We had a young family and I was determined they would learn to swim at a young age. It was easy – we bought a few kids life jackets.
Our family got used to the idea very quickly – no life jacket and you are not allowed inside the pool fence.
This was a strict rule applied to visitors’ children as well.
Our kids could swim well and truly before they went to school, as did a lot of our friends’ kids.
As we had one of the first private pools in Applecross, a lot of the local kids learnt to swim in it with a life jacket.
Our daughter, later in life, applied the same practice with her kids and visitors’ children with her pool.
One of the factors in deciding to build a pool – to have our kids swim at an early age – was that my wife lost her brother in a drowning accident when he was just nine.
Needless to say, neither my wife nor her brother could swim.
Another thing I believe in is to follow the belief of our great swimming coach Laurie Lawrence and teach your kids to swim when they are babies.
Even if you do not have children and have a pool, go out and buy a couple of children’s life jackets.
If my letter saves one life, the time I have taken to write it makes life worthwhile.
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