Parent Guide to Aquatic Safety

Dear YMCA Parents/Guardians:

We Need Your Support!

At the YMCA of South Hampton Roads, our number one priority is the safety of our members and guests. We are continually evaluating our protocols and best practices to ensure that everyone enjoys our aquatic venues and remains safe at all times. We especially strive to protect the youth coming to our pools.

With this in mind, we follow a safety practice called,

“Test, Mark, and Protect.”
1. Test: All youth 3–12 must complete requirements of the swim test. Check out all you need to know about the swim test now!
2. Mark: All swimmers that pass the swim test will be given a green necklace to wear while swimming in the Y pool. This helps the lifeguards distinguish between swimmer and non-swimmer.
3. Protect: All non-swimmers must follow either of these additional layers of protection:
a. Be actively engaged in a swim lesson or
b. Be within arm’s reach of parent/guardian

In addition to these layers of protection for non-swimmers, we ask every parent/guardian to monitor your child at all times, even if your child is a good swimmer. We ask that you position yourself so you can easily see your child at all times, supervise their actions, and eliminate distractions (e.g., cell phone use) while watching your child. This extra layer of protection will aid our lifeguards tremendously in keeping all youth safe in our pools.

We consider all of our parents/guardians as partners in safety—and we thank you for your continued support in ensuring a safe and fun pool environment.
If you have any questions in regards to aquatic safety or our aquatic programs please do not hesitate to contact your Y.

Thanks again for your support,

YMCA Aquatics Directors