No one is drown proof
We live in such a changing society where there are ever increasing demands on our time and resources. If a child has the ability to get back to safety if they fall into a still body of water, it helps take some of the worry away when you are near a pool or a body of water. However, there is no substitute for vigilance no matter how well you can swim. I remember back in the mid 1960's when, a…
What is MySSS?
Since 1993 Shapland Swim Schools have used a unique computer program to manage their day-to-day rosters in real time. Over the years we have developed that program to the point where it is now a seamless piece of software that now gives our clients and prospective clients a direct access to their Shapland Swim School account, known as MySSS. This web-based software allows clients to cancel a les…
Winter - a great time for lessons
Winter is a great time to enroll you child in swimming lessons. The Australian Government define swimming lessons as Personal Aquatic Survival Skills and is a very apt description of what we are trying to develop in our pupils across the whole Shapland group. The swimming season has always be cyclical ever since I can remember, certainly as far back as 1948 when my parents secured the lease of t…
Chelsea saves her life
Sixteen month old Chelsea put the skills she learnt at swimming lessons to avoid a potentially dangerous situation. I received this email for one very happy mum. "Hi. I have had my daughter in Shapland's Warner for around 7 months. She has just turned 16 months. Today I had my kids at the local pool in the toddler pool. A boy pushed Chelsea off one of the islands' in the pool. She f…
Christmas lights at Shaplands Buderim
Each Christmas Dereck and Bonnie Mills, owners and franchisees of the Shapland Swim School at Buderim, really get into the spirit of Christmas by going all out with their Christmas lights display. Dereck and Bonnie take great pride in how their swim school and residence looks at night (the photo does not do it justice) and judging by the steady stream of cars that pull up across the road; window…
Christmas - is a time for deadly distractions
Given that death by drowning is a silent killer and near death by drowning just as bad if not worse depending on the amount of brain damage suffered during the incident; Christmas is a time when the potential for drowning and near death by drowning is heightened. Over the Christmas break It is so easy to loose concentration because there seems to be so many things happening that require our attent…
Three year old Parker saves himself
I though I would share an email with you that came into my computer from a very happy Grandmother. Julie is happy for me to post this email as she really wants parents to know just how fast a swimming incident can happen and the value of swimming lessons. In this situation it was the cool headed grandfather that really made the difference as he was calm enough and close enough to ensure that at no…
Beware of cold water and pools
"Sarah has forgotten how to swim. We went to a friend’s pool on the weekend and she nearly drowned. She jumped into the pool and she only just made it back to the side. I feel like we will have to start all over again." Many times I have heard comments, from parents at the beginning of the season, similar to the one above. The cause of the child’s problem is the water tempe…
First time at the beach
Going to the beach for the first time is an exciting occasions for most of us. The sights, sounds and movement of the water is always fascinating however to a small child all of the above can cause some problems so please be aware of the following when taking your child/toddler to the beach for the first time especially if it is an open beach (where there is surf as opposed to a protected beach li…
Warm water and gritty eyes
The next time you have a bath try putting your face in the water and opening your eyes under the water. You will notice your eyes will react to the warm water and if you keep putting them in the water long enough they will become sore, not burnt but sore. During my competitive career from 1960 - 1968 I did all my training without goggles, not by choice but because there weren't any racing gogg…
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