31/05/2026
Sunday Reflections (long read)
๐ฆ๐๐ถ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐. ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐๐ฒ๐ณ๐๐น ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ.
We're sometimes asked: "What is it exactly that you work with?"
The short answer could be "Swimming." But it's also somewhat about water safety education.
Though that doesn't quite feel complete.
Because if we're honest, what we work with most of all is people in water - trust - relationships.
And a great deal of curiosity has driven us, over many years, to do something different from what we were involved in at DGI Swimming, where we were both affiliated as instructors and as writers of educational materials. We felt that the pace of development and implementation didn't quite match our patience.
๐ฆ๐ผ ๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฟ๐๐น๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น.
After many years at the poolside, we've seen something remarkable, something we want to share with all instructors, but especially with children's parents.
We've met many children who could swim long distances, but became anxious the moment something changed. Or panicked when they had to swim into the deep end.
We've met children who didn't yet swim "beautifully" or master the four competitive strokes, but who could keep a cool head, orient themselves, float on both their front and back, jump from the diving board or a step and make it back to the edge, assess their own behaviour, make decisions for themselves, and manage surprisingly well in water.
After countless years with the basic swimming curriculum, where it was hard to break through with the four basic skills (change of element, breathing, balance and propulsion), we kept asking the same question:
๐๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด?
๐๐ณ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ?
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ.
It led to experiences proving that when we work deeply with foundational skills and make water competence systematic โ as we have done with the Self-Saving Ladderโข - miracles happen: joy of water, development of competencies, and mastery.
We've put in many hours of teaching and had thousands of conversations. We've made mistakes in our setups, found other paths, and made countless adjustments. Throughout it all, our enormous curiosity has been the driving force behind our creativity. We've been enormously productive.
As we've spent the last couple of weeks optimising our school project - going deep into the engine room to make absolutely sure we've thought of everything to deliver on what many of the participating teachers called "Plug 'n' Play" - we can see in our archives just how much we've produced.
We're incredibly proud of that productivity, because it has also resulted in our most popular book ever โ and we've written 7 others before it.
The book "The Essential Book of Water Competence " didn't come about because we were bored and one of us said, "Let's write a book."
No, simply because over many years we experienced that the reality in the water didn't always fit the traditional way we've thought about swimming.
Because yes, swimming matters.
We truly mean that.
Everyone should be able to swim.
๐ฆ๐๐ถ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐. ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐๐ฒ๐ณ๐๐น ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ.
Everyone should maintain their skills throughout life, but if we're completely honest:
Most adults simply don't.
And perhaps that's worth pausing on. Because when we look at drowning statistics, certain patterns emerge.
It's not only children's behaviour around water that we should be concerned about.
Again and again, we see adults, and particularly men aged 45 and over, among those who lose their lives in drowning accidents.
Why?
Is it overestimation of one's own abilities? Lack of respect for conditions? Old experiences that no longer match the body? Culture? Risk? Alcohol? Habits?
Perhaps a little of everything.
And perhaps we need to start talking more about the fact that developing or maintaining water competence doesn't stop when you turn 12.
Perhaps adults need to practice too. Maintain the skills we have in water. Train to rescue others, and assess our own behaviour with a bit more self-awareness.
We believe it would be valuable for all adults to start by reflecting on what they can actually do in water, not what they used to be able to do - but ๐ช๐๐๐ง ๐ง๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ก ๐๐ข ๐ก๐ข๐ช! (sorry for shouting)
This is a key factor in how our Sunday Water Competence sessions are structured. We work quite intensively with the adults in our Sunday group.
Not to teach them a beautiful crawl stroke, which is otherwise quite popular, but to create a sense of safety, give them understanding, insight into self-saving, encourage much more joy of movement in the water, and build respect for water throughout their lives.
In our view, water competence is not a course you take once. It's something you carry with you.
Something you maintain!
Water competence awareness should remain with us throughout life.
The more we work in this field, the clearer one thing becomes:
Perhaps as a society, we need to shift the conversation a little.
From: "Can you swim?" (can you swim 200 metres?)
๐ง๐ผ: "๐๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ?"
From: "How many metres can the child swim?"
๐ง๐ผ: "๐๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ธ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฒ
๐ฎ๐๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ - ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป?"
We are genuinely glad that water safety is receiving more attention in public discourse right now.
It matters.
But we also wonder a little...
Is 200 metres in itself enough to define whether someone is "water safe"?
Maybe ~ maybe not.
It's being actively debated at all the drowning prevention conferences we're attending these days. Most federation members agree that the reality is more complex.
Being comfortable in the sea is not the same as being comfortable in a pool; being able to crawl doesn't necessarily mean you can save yourself, and being able to swim far doesn't always mean making good decisions.
In our research for "The Essential Book of Water Competence," we found many situations that we also need to discuss further.
One is a tragic phenomenon that doesn't yet have a Danish word:
Bystander drowning
When people drown in the attempt to rescue someone else.
Often a parent, a friend, or a passerby. A person acting out of love, an unavoidable instinct, or sometimes panic.
This says something important: that drowning rarely comes down to one thing. The International Life Saving Federation of Europe (ILSE)states very specifically that it is about people, and ILSE further identify the following factors:
Relationships, split-second decisions, environments, behaviour, culture, courage, fear, experience, and sometimes the lack of it.
Perhaps that's why we've become so absorbed by the concept of water competence.
Because it feels bigger than just lanes ๐ it feels more human.
We also think it matters that we focus less on perfect leg kicks and arm strokes.
More on experiences in and around water. It should also be about calm, understanding, judgment, self-saving, relationships, and experience.
Perhaps the time has finally come for the necessary shift:
So yes. We work with swimming.
But perhaps we work even more with something else:
๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป, ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐น๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ, ๐ฎ ๐น๐ถ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐ฎ ๐น๐ถ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ถ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐น๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป, ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป.
What do you think?
What do you think is the most important thing children learn in water?
What do you think is the most important thing ADULTS learn in water?
When you hear the word "water safe," what does it actually mean to you?
We've been sketching out a model (see the inserted image)
A model meant to illustrate our thinking about a new approach. Comments and further insights are very welcome๐ฅฐ๐ซถ๐
