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WATER COMPETENCE
Being safe alongside, on, and in water provides wellbeing, as well as good health and quality of life. But in order to take part in this joy and avoid drowning accidents, it’s important to have good capabilities in swimming, self-rescue, risk assessment, and basic lifesaving.
This is what Water Competence is all about.
THE SCIENCE OF WATER COMPETENCE
In the book “Aquatic Readiness” by Langedorfer and Bruya (1995), the term water competence is presented to describe a wider understanding of water skills. Water competence is described as:
- Knowledge about water
Understand the water’s properties and dangers. Practice safe behavior and prevent dangerous behavior. - Water skills
Basic swimming and ability to get out into the water and up to the surface, breathing control, floating, turning around, and getting safely up out of the water. - Helping others
Saving techniques where you remain onshore without having to go into the water, and simple, safe saving techniques in water.
