Hello!

13 Comments

This HEART-STOPPING footage shows babies being thrown into water and left to recover totally unaided.

The Swim Survival Technique, which originated in America, has recently hit the UK, reports The Sun. 

Silvia Garcia and Miguel Jerez, both 34 and hail from Spain, are International Swimming Academy instructors and lifeguards. They insist the practise is safe.

They have taught over 100 children in the last year, many as young as six months.

“We feel like super heroes with a unique mission of helping families keep their children safe in and around the water,” said Miguel.

Silvia, his partner, agreed, “Babies, toddlers and children will learn breath control, self-orientation and appropriate swimming postures to allow them to rotate onto their backs, float like a starfish and swim like a dolphin.

“Once mastered they can happily float and rest comfortably. Floating like a starfish is a key stepping stone to water confidence, independent safe swimmers for life.”


Related story:

Government issues warning over inflatable swimming pools


 

While the footage may seem extreme, Miguel says the full unassisted emersion underwater is only done once the child has been taught the correct methods to be an independent swimmer.

“We teach the child to float on their back,” he said.

“Once your child has achieved the floating, we teach them how to self-orientate themselves underwater and come up and float.

“This is a very well built learning process and it is only when the child knows how to roll over and float that we release our hands.

“When your child has learnt how to walk or ride a bike, mum or dad slowly release their hands off of them to let them experience, get feedback and learn. This is the same.”

Silvia and Miguel, who have been teaching this method since 2014, believe conventional swimming lessons teach children “a false sense of security in the water”.

Silvia said: “They teach children to rely on floats, goggles, adult’s support and an unrealistic situation where they swim with a float from one side of the pool to the other.

“The issue lies at the grass roots, most swimming schools and classes do not teach ‘Swim-Float-Swim’.

“This is a simple yet revolutionary swimming method that empowers confidence and courage in swimmers from the offset by teaching the most important water skill, the ability to float and swim.”

Miguel said their method ensures kids are “water confident” and helps them “solve problems in the water”.

Silvia added: “This method is also valid for special needs children. We have 100% teaching success which means all our children can roll over and float in any situation.

“If they can do it your child can do it.”

Did you know a child can drown silently in as little as 5 cm of water, in less than 2 minutes.

When you started swimming lessons with your little ones, did they do this?

Share your comments below.

More related content:

Image via youtube

We may get commissions for purchases made using links in this post. Learn more.
  • I don’t agree with their techniques.
    One of my earliest memories of swimming is that I was thrown in the deep end of the pool without anyone helping me & I heard the instructor telling my Mum I would instinctively learn to float & swim. I grew up in an area with beaches so was used to shallow water for paddling in, when we moved overseas my parents decided I should get swimming lessons so went to the local pool. Naturally I panicked because I was only 5 years old & had never been exposed to deep water, Mum took me home & I never went back to a pool or beach till we came back to Australia, consequently I never really learned to swim because even in Aussie schools I could not cope in the deeper pools when we had lessons & carnivals. I tried to overcome it when on holiday at the Great Barrier Reef but freaked out once I got into the water, so humiliating as an adult to be screaming & sobbing with fear. That fear of deep water is still with me at 54 years of age & I will never forget it.

    Reply

  • There is no guarantee that a baby or older person will not die from secondary drowning, usually caused by inhaling water and filling their lungs. It may not take effect for over an hour. If not rushed to hospital quickly enough It causes death.

    Reply

  • Um, I find this rather disturbing.

    Reply

  • This looks so cruel but if it’s done safely by professionals and will help save lives, then it is a necessary evil.

    Reply

  • Child drowning is occurring way too much, so I can see the sense in this type of teaching. My son attended swimming lessons for years and yet I never felt that he would necessarily be safe if he fell in a pool. As a result, we never let him out of our sight and did all the right things legally by our pool. However, I was glad when we moved house and I decided I didn’t want a pool again. He is now a teen and can swim, but I do agree that teaching as per the video is a greater way to go.

    Reply

  • I think this is one of the better methods I have seen. Children get into difficulties when they accidently fall into water – this stops that problem.

    Reply

  • I think some children might be ok with this and others it would cause extreme phobia. Its not something that I would have been comfortable with my children. I found that standard swimming lessons were perfect for my girls.
    Each to their own.

    Reply

  • I read about this some time ago after reading the Wikipedia entry about Nivana’s Nevermind album cover.

    Reply

  • This swimming method really attracts me. I would love to try it with my 2 year old who has Down syndrome.

    Reply

  • Iam m a swim teacher although we don’t use those methods for teaching, I don’t find what they show scarey as that baby is already comfortable with what they are doing. I would be interested yo see the child before its comfortable with this method

    Reply

  • Wow – though I understand why its taught like this, scares me so much. I do not swim as I have a fear of water …. but this may have been good for me :/

    Reply

  • I’m not sure about what I think regarding this method. It scares me quite a lot.

    Reply

  • It may look terrible and concerning to some, seeing a child thrown and plunged under water but just remember that if a child manages to wander into a unsupervised pool area and they do not have water survival knowledge the out come could and in many cases is deadly.

    Reply

Post a comment
Add a photo
Your MoM account


Lost your password?

Enter your email and a password below to post your comment and join MoM:

You May Like

Loading…

Looks like this may be blocked by your browser or content filtering.

↥ Back to top

Thanks For Your Star Rating!

Would you like to add a written rating or just a star rating?

Write A Rating Just A Star Rating
Join