05/29/2022
Swim goggle dependency is a dangerous epidemic.
It’s the same for water wings, arm floaties, ear plugs and puddle jumpers. The May 27th News & Record picture showing a child jumping into a pool wearing all of these is a bad, and dangerous example for parents. Everyone, young and old, should go swimming without any of the above.
Is wearing such “gear” a trivial matter? No, it’s HUGE. Swimming is a horizontal activity; treading water is a vertical activity. These crutches eliminate your child’s ability to do both. They do not make your child safe in the water. According to the CDC, drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death for children ages 1-14. Nearly 80% of drowning deaths among preschoolers are due to accidentally falling into the water, usually fully clothed and often reaching for a floating toy. It may seem that every kid at the pool is wearing goggles (and gear), but almost every kid that accidentally falls in the water is NOT! Those accidental victims cannot see their way to safety or “water wing” their way to safety because they haven't learned to open their eyes underwater or to swim. In addition to keeping a child from swimming with eyes wide open, goggles are often too tight, too loose, leaky, foggy, wrong color, don't match the swimsuit or, not like the ones someone else is wearing. They are not worth the risk. Save your money, skip the goggles and gear and improve the odds of saving your child’s life. It will probably require you to get in the pool with them…and that’s a really, really good thing!
Learning to open your eyes underwater is critical step #1. Let those natural blinkers go to work! For 50 years, I have taught preschoolers to swim, one-on-one. I have loved every minute. Now, more than ever, I encounter parents who want their preschooler safe in the water but are surprised when they learn I do not allow goggles (or gear). I get their faces wet early and often (do the same when you’re in the pool with them). At first, opening your eyes underwater is a little surprising and blurry. But they do it so much in my classes that it becomes a non-event. I teach infants and toddlers to “fall” into the water, open their eyes, turn their head, look for the wall and go get it. They have learned to save themselves in a pool. I have lots of underwater pictures of smiling happy faces with bubbles all around! I know children whose lives have been saved by that skill.
Non-event status is how you and your child should feel about not wearing goggles (or gear). Use those open eyes to swim, splash, dive and enjoy the water safely. Use those blinkers when you come up for a breath. If, and when, your child joins a swim team, goggles may then be used but they aren’t necessary. My college sport was synchronized swimming. It’s a sport where no one, not even Olympians, wear goggles even though you are underwater almost all the time.
Parents, test your child (and/or teen) to see if they can easily and comfortably swim a length of the pool without goggles or gear. Remember, you are the adult, and you are in charge. No goggles and no gear are no big deal, and it’s for their own blinking good!
Connie Hilliard
Connie Swim School
American Red Cross trained Water Safety Instructor
[email protected]
