Swimming and Water Safety 7

A pilot project that would see the installation of underwater cameras in three Edmonton pools is expected to get underway by 2017. Participants at the 7^th annual Alberta Red Cross Water Safety Conference in Edmonton in October learned about the initiative. “We are always striving to improve water safety in Canada,” says Sarah Jackson, Red Cross Water Safety Representative for northern Alberta and NWT. “Conferences like this are a great opportunity to learn from each other.”

Swim instructors Kaitlin Perry and Breena Rusnell always knew their work went far beyond teaching children how to do the front crawl or how to tread water.  Read how the swim instructors are helping their students and community recover from the devastating Alberta wildfires. 

Approximately 90 newcomers including Syrian refugees attended the Canadian Red Cross Water Safety Preparedness Picnic last weekend in Stratford, Prince Edward Island. With barbecued food, good company, fun games as well as information on water safety, it was a great day for all who took part in the event held at Pondside Park. Check out these great photos from the day!

We’re feeling pretty inspired by Team Canada in Rio to practice our swimming - and just because we’re not training to be Olympians doesn’t mean it’s a waste of time training in a pool. When we think of swimming lessons a lot of us immediately think of little kids splashing around – but what about teens and adults who are ready to pick up or improve their water skills?

There were some great photos submitted to our recent #LifejacketLiving contest, showing how we Canadians sport our lifejackets in some beautiful locations throughtout the country. 

There are a lot of excuses the three of us could have used to not wear our lifejackets. After all, we are all confident swimmers;  the water was calm; we weren’t going very far out; we could just throw three lifejackets in the canoe; and we all felt pretty comfortable with our canoe abilities. The thing is, all of these reasons only make sense in a world where nothing goes wrong, and especially nothing goes wrong as quickly as a canoe tipping over. 

We want to see how you live to explore our lakes, rivers and shores while wearing your lifejacket. Snap a pic and send it to us for a chance to win one of 10 family packs of Mustang lifejackets.
Share your photo on social media using #LifeJacketLiving or #LaVieEnGilet to enter the contest or submit your photo online here.

Every year, over 500 Canadians die in drowning-related incidents. Of these, over 90 per cent are men. Statistics, however, often mask the individual losses though and the enormous impact a drowning death can have on an entire family. Danika Crossman, boating safety program coordinator with the Canadian Red Cross, knows this loss first hand. In 2009, her uncle drowned while he was boating with his wife on Lake Okanagan in Kelowna, B.C. He was 41.