Editorial

Swim safely this summer

Posted

Swimming in a pool or the ocean is some of the best fun that summer has to offer, but the dangers are ever-present — in the Town of Hempstead alone, lifeguards make more than 2,000 rescues each summer, 500 of them in situations that are considered life-threatening.

Rip currents are a particularly dangerous hazard in the ocean, most flowing with enough power to overcome even the strongest swimmers. They can develop at any beach with breaking waves, as gravity pulls the water back off the sand and concentrated channels of moving water form and move offshore. The vast majority of rescues ocean lifeguards make are of swimmers caught in rip currents.

If you find yourself being swept outward by a rip, don’t fight it. Remain calm and conserve energy. In most cases you can escape the current by swimming parallel to the shoreline before turning toward it. If that’s not possible, float or calmly tread water. Lifeguards are trained to spot swimmers caught in rip currents, and the chances are excellent that a guard is making his or her way out to you. But by all means, wave and yell for help.

Before you get to the ocean, however, the first, and most important, aquatic safety tip is to learn to swim. Children should be taught at an early age, not only because many take to the water naturally but because those who don’t learn tend to avoid doing so as they age, often embarrassed by their lack of ability.

The Town of Hempstead has 13 pools that offer swimming instruction for children and adults, from beginners to those well beyond the basics. Participants who aren’t members of the pools where the classes are offered pay daily admission fees. The pools that offer American Red Cross-certified swimming instruction are:

• Averill Boulevard, in Elmont

• Echo Park, in West Hempstead

• Forest City Park, in Wantagh

• Hewlett Point Park, in Bay Park

• Levittown pools, in Levittown and Hicksville

• Newbridge Road Park, in Bellmore

• Oceanside Park, in Oceanside

• Rath Park, in Franklin Square

• Roosevelt Pool, in Roosevelt

• Town Park at Malibu, in Lido Beach

• Veterans Memorial Park, in East Meadow

• Walker Memorial Park, in Lakeview.

For information or to register, call the Town of Hempstead Aquatics Division, at (516) 572-0501. Pool office hours are noon to 5 p.m. on weekdays, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.

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