Lifesaving Society

What is Swim to Survive?

Swim to Survive is a Lifesaving Society survival training program. The Society defines the minimum skills needed by all Canadians to survive an unexpected fall into deep water. These are expressed in a skill sequence in the Canadian Swim to Survive Standard:

ROLL into deep water - TREAD water (1 min.) - SWIM 50 m

Free Swim to Survive summer program at Monarch Park C.I.. Download the registration form.

Read and download the Swim to Survive parent handout in 28 languages.

Swim to Survive is aimed primarily at children, but people of all ages should be able to perform the Society’s Swim to Survive Standard.

Why Swim to Survive?

Basic swimming ability is a fundamental requirement in any meaningful attempt to eliminate drowning in Canada.

The Society believes swimming is a life skill that all children need to learn. It’s no different than fire safety or street-proofing.
The Society estimates about half of Canadian children never take traditional swimming lessons – even though “swimming” is the second most popular activity (after bicycling) in Canada among school-age children between 5 and 12 years of age. The Lifesaving Society wants to ensure every child has the basic skills to survive.
Swim skills are not innate – they need to be taught – and all children deserve the chance to learn.
Our research shows that most drownings occur close to safety. We believe that if every child in Canada could pass our Swim to Survive standard, it would reduce the number of drownings by half.

Isn’t it just swimming lessons?

No. Swim to Survive is different than swimming lessons – and not a replacement for them. Swim to Survive teaches just the essentials needed to survive an unexpected fall into deep water – an important first step to being safe around water.

The Lifesaving Society strongly encourages parents to enrol their children in swimming lessons.

What’s the Swim to Survive Schools Program?

The Lifesaving Society aims to have every Grade 3 student in Ontario achieve the Swim to Survive Standard. The Society has a Swim to Survive school grant program to help make this happen.

The board of education and pool owner/operators coordinate the timing and logistics of getting the students from the school to the pool. The pool facility arranges for the pool time and Swim to Survive instructors. The school board arranges student transportation and communication with parents. The Lifesaving Society supplies instructor materials, teacher and parent materials and Swim to Survive certificates.


		The Lifesaving Society is a national registered charity organization working to prevent drowning and water-related injury through our training programs, Water Smart® public education, safety management services, water-incident research and lifesaving sport. Copyright 2010 by The Royal Life Saving Society Canada, Ontario Branch. Registered Charity No. 10809 7270 RR0001. More legal stuff.