Water Safety Knowledge Important Year Round
By EMILY RAMSEY
Managing Editor
COMMUNITY EDUCATION: Students receive swim instruction at Miller Swim School, which opened in Tulsa in 1960. The swim school launched its ThinkSafe program in 2012 as a way to educate the community on water safety and drowning prevention.
Swimming is not the only knowledge a person needs when spending time near the water.
There is much more involved, including learning about water safety, says Sarah Clavin, director of marketing and communications for Miller Swim School. That is the idea behind Miller Swim School’s ThinkSafe program.
The Tulsa-based company launched ThinkSafe in 2012 as a way to educate the community on water safety and drowning prevention. The free program can be tailored to any age group, from child to adult, and “we come to you,” Clavin says. “Instructors will come to where it is most convenient for the group: classrooms, living rooms or other meeting spaces.” Program topics include water safety tips, boating and life jacket information, basic emergency recognition, and rescue skills.
“The statistics on drowning are staggering and grow with each year,” she says. “We talk to so many people who have had experiences involving drowning. We want to give back to our community, educate them and hopefully save some lives.”
Miller Swim School has spent more than 50 years in Tulsa and is using this educational program to say thank you to the community.
The program continues to accomplish its objective since its inception last year. “We have had families come back to us and say that their three-year-old saved their six-month-old’s life because of what he/she learned in class,” Clavin says.
Students at Miller Swim School also receive water safety information through the school’s year-round and summer programs and as young as six months old in the Diaper Dolphins program. Instructors teach children to “reach, throw, never go,” if they find someone drowning. “If someone is drowning, reach out to them, throw something for them to hold and do not go into the water,” Clavin says. “That may only lead to that child drowning as well.”
The swim school’s beginnings came about in 1960 when Larry and Rita Miller began teaching swimming lessons in the summer months. Both were educators and former swim team and diving coaches. When they retired, they formed Miller Swim School, which remains the only business in the state that is solely focused on swimming instruction.
To enroll in courses or learn more about water safety and the ThinkSafe program, visit millerswimschool.com or call 918-254-1988.
Updated 04-21-2013
READER COMMENTS
