SHARKS Program

SHARKs (Safe Healthy Aquatic Recreation for Kids) was an innovative and exciting swim program provided by the ‘Guelph YMCA’ for all Grade 3 and 5 students in the city of Guelph.  It was the only program of its kind and was offered free to all public, private and catholic elementary school students in Guelph. Guelph Y had partnered with the Lifesaving Society, City of Guelph and University of Guelph to bring this program to 100% of Grade 3 and 5 students in Guelph. 

 

For some of the participating kids,  it was their first time touching water outside of a bathtub and so, the program also taught water safety awareness to new swimmers, as well as giving them time to play and become comfortable in the water. The SHARKs program taught the Lifesaving Society's "Swim to Survive" curriculum of surviving a sudden and unexpected fall into deep water. With SHARKs training, the children of Guelph learned how to:

·       recover from a fall into the water

·       tread water until rescuers arrive

·       swim to safety

 

The Rotary Club of Guelph had long sponsored this amazing program for local children, and was proud that one of the program's original advocates was Rotarian Ken Hamill. Read more about Ken here.