National Water Literacy Plan from age 4: Swim Stars approves the Minister!

The “Water Skills” plan launched by the Minister of Sports, Roxana Maracineanu, former swimming champion, is complementary to the Swim Stars courses.

“Aquatic ability” from 4 years old

The goal? Learn the basics of swimming from a young age to prevent drowning, in particular by setting up intensive courses and tutorials for supervisors.

Since 2016, at Swim Stars, we welcome all over France (Paris, Montpellier, Bordeaux and Nantes) children from 3 years old for
AUTO-RESCUE® classes
an “anti-drowning” program whose objective is to learn how to save oneself before learning to swim.

Our school is very happy to see the birth of a nationwide plan for toddlers because, like the Minister, we share the same idea that starting to learn to swim at 6 is much too late.

France 3 report on aquatic fluency

Drownings in 2018

– 332 drownings recorded in children under 6 years old, an increase of 85% compared to 2015 according to Le Parisien.

– 41% of drownings concern children under 12 years old, 7% of which are fatal according to the figures of Public Health.

Drowning is the second leading cause of death for children between the ages of 0 and 4 years. Accidental falls into water, especially in private and family pools, are the primary reason.

In general, 15% of French people say they do not know how to swim.

At the beginning of the 2018 school year, and following the alarm call in the media from the current Minister of Sports, after a particularly deadly summer, Olivier Chazot, president of AUTO-RESCUE® had sent him an

open letter

to encourage her in this approach to make swimming accessible from a young age. The program’s founding president had offered to work with him on this project, while also defending his
0 drowning plan.

Delighted to learn about the initiative of the Minister of Sports, Roxana Mariceanu, our swimming school would be delighted to be able to pass on its know-how in order to participate in the launch of the “Aquatic Literacy” plan.