3 Facts About Water Safety in Florida That Every Orlando Area Resident & Visitor Should Know
FACT 1: FLORIDA’S LAND AREA IS NEARLY 20% WATER.
Florida is the third (#3) highest state with the most water per square mile - after Alaska and Michigan. (Source) As a peninsula, most people think of our coastal front beach line, but that’s only part of it. Florida is made up of nearly 20% freshwater too. Visitors and residents alike come here to enjoy water sports, ocean adventures, beautiful beaches and world class resorts more. I’m sure you know this, but why am I discussing this here? I mention it because school is about to be out; students and little ones are more likely to be home or in neighborhoods with pools and near freshwater.
FLORIDA IS FIFTH (#5) IN UNINTENTIONAL DROWNINGS; OVER 25% OF THESE ARE CHILDREN AGE 1-4. Drowning is the leading cause of death in children under the age of 4 (source) and most drownings for this age group happen in swimming pools (source). Drowning for children 5+ is the second (#2, auto accident is #1) leading unintentional injury death (source) and these deaths are more likely to occur at natural body of water like lake or an ocean (source).
Every year there are enough children under age 4 that are lost to unintentional drowning in Florida to fill 3-4 preschool classrooms. Water safety is everyone’s responsibility, this is one reason the Florida government is working to help parents and children have more access to swim lessons.
FACT 2: FLORIDA GOVERNMENT IS SETTING UP A NEW VOUCHER SYSTEM TO HELP SUPPORT FAMILIES WITH SWIM LESSONS FOR CHILDREN - EFFECTIVE JULY 2024.
In this last session of the Florida Legislature, both the House and the Senate came together to create Senate Bill 544. This was approved and signed by Governor Ron DeSantis on April 16, 2024. According to the the senate website, the goal of this bill is to establish a network of swimming lesson vendors to participate in a voucher program and secure at least one vendor in every county.” The Florida Department of Health and Human Services is currently working to meet the requirements to “develop and publish rules establishing the processes for determining applicant eligibility and vendor eligibility and voucher amounts.” (source).
PRO TIP FROM STEF: BOOKMARK THIS WEBSITE TO SAVE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON WATER SAFETY AND SWIM VOUCHERS: https://www.watersmartfl.com/
FACT 3: ORLANDO AREA HAS SOME GREAT RATED SWIM SCHOOLS!
PRO TIPS FROM STEF:
1) Set a reminder for March 1st every year to schedule swim lessons. Times and sessions for summer fill up fast.
2) If possible, schedule early in the day to avoid afternoon storms effecting your schedule.
I personally have a lot of anxiety around water - which is ironic because I’m a scorpio. I don’t swim well and I do not go in the ocean or lakes (mostly because of personal preference). In my house growing up in the midwest, I didn’t have to know how to swim. I didn’t like swim lessons, so as soon as I got to where mom didn’t worry about me in the water and I could touch the bottom, I quit. Now, I wish I hadn’t.
Now my recommended rule in our house is a required 2 weeks every summer until the child has a Red Cross Lifeguard card or turns 18 (then he can make his own decision). So far we’ve managed lessons every year since he turned 2. We’ve managed the screaming of water in the face, a fall in the pool when the instructor was working with another student, a weird incident between too much chlorine and some bonus fruit juice, and finding out what happens when you are in the pool too long but refuse to give up on the fun and big kids knock you off your floaty but then you realize that you are too tired to pull yourself back up. Thankfully in all of these instances, there was plenty of help and grown-ups around to support the learning process of water safety.
Many people don’t realize that drowning is often silent and usually happens when children aren’t even supposed to be near the water. Water is so much fun play and learning for little people and it is such a sensory experience that often children don’t know their own limits. Swim lessons can save lives but they are not a substitute for constant supervision. We personally had better luck with a one-on-one teaching experience. This helped us work through some overwhelming sensory issues and we felt it made better use of our time. However, I’ve had many parents tell me that their children learned very well from watching the other children in a class setting and hearing the corrections aloud that allow them to consider their own movements.
RESOURCES FOR CENTRAL FLORIDA SWIM LESSONS
One of my hopes when I started the blog on this site was to be a helpful resource to neighbors who are in Florida for any amount of time - vacationing, short term or forever home. I think I’ve finally figured out how to make a list of resources on GOOGLE MAPS and be able to share it with you, so you can have something to start your search with. I have created a list just for Orlando Swim Lessons. This list should pull up ResortTV1Homes list of the top 24 swim schools and fitness centers that are currently (2024) listed to have swim lessons. While I haven’t been to all these places, I did look at reviews and tried only to include those with a 4+ star rating.
The only one in Orlando that I can absolutely recommend is Baby Otter Swim School. They offer personal one-to-one swim lessons to all ages and they come to you, so that you can learn in a pool that is familiar to the student.
MORE RESOURCES FOR DROWNING PREVENTION
I hope you found this helpful. Next I’ll be doing some more research on pool safety as well as the different types of lifejackets see what’s out there. As always, be safe out there. Won’t You Be Our Neighbor.
