Basic Safety Certification

A big part of our responsibility as a rowing club is for the safety of our athletes. To ensure that our rowers are safe on the water, we require that all rowers regardless of age complete a Basic Safety Certification. The main goal of this certification is to educate rowers through experience on what skills they will need and conditions they may face if they end up in the water while rowing. It also ensures that all Sweeps & Sculls Rowers have a baseline set of skills and information regarding the potential safety risks they could encounter while rowing.

We use the following club guidelines for the use of PFDs:

• All rowers - are required to wear PFDs while using club equipment when the water temperature is below 50 degrees and below.

• Rowers (of any age) that have NOT completed Basic Safety Certification - Will wear a PFD at all times while using club equipment, including during racing, regardless of other circumstances including air temperature, etc.

• Rowers (of any age) that have completed the Basic Safety Certification and have received a PFD recommendation - Rowers may receive a PFD recommendation after completing the Basic Safety Certification. After reviewing their performance during the certification, a coach may recommend that a rower continue to wear a PFD at all times while using club equipment. There are a number of reasons that a coach may make this recommendation including medical concerns, assistive equipement that may make wearing a PFD safer, or the rower's swimming skills and comfort in the water, to name a few. If a rower received a PFD recommendation, they will be required to wear a PFD at all times while using club equipment including during racing. Rowers that recieve a PFD recommendation may re-do the test at any time.

• Rowers (of any age) that have completed the Basic Safety Certification - may use club equipment without wearing a PFD when the water temperature is above 50 degrees.

• Adult rowers are required to complete the Basic Safety Certifcation in order to advance to Level 2.

In order to facilitate this, we offer the Basic Safety Certificaion at least once a year. We encourage all rowers to complete the certification at one of these sessions, however you can complete it on your own if you desire.

If you can not attend, you can wait for the next one offered (typcially March of each year) or you can complete the Basic Safety Certification on your own. If you choose to complete the certificaion on your own, please discuss it with a coach so they can go over the steps with you. You will need to have a lifeguard to administer and sign off on yout test as well as get video of the swimming portion of the test.

Location

The Basic Safety Certfication is typically offered at the Sage YMCA in Crystal Lake in March. The address of the YMCA is:

Sage YMCA
701 Manor Rd
Crystal Lake

Part 1 - Swim Certification 

The swim certfication portion of the test is meant to educate rowers on conditions they may face while rowing.

• Swim certification must be completed using any additional equipment or assistive devices that would be worn while rowing (such as eye glasses, leg braces, etc.).

• Jump into deep water (head should submerge) wearing long athletic pants (or equivalent) and long sleeve shirt and keep your face/head above water continuously (floating, treading, etc.) for 5-minutes.

• Put on a life-jacket and secure it while treading water. (Remove the life jacket for the next portion of the test).

• Continuous swim for 25 yards using any stroke/method in a competent manner. Athletes cannot touch the bottom, wall or use any swimming aids (kick boards, floats, etc.) during this portion of the test.

All Swim Tests are good for the lifetime of each athlete unless there has been a major life experience (heart attack, stroke, etc.) or a coach determines that a re-testing is necessary.

What to Wear/Bring

As you may have noticed, the swim certification requires rowers to tread water in clothing and have any equipment or assistive devices (glasses, braces, etc) that may be worn while rowing. I want to stress that this is not a “pass/fail” test. This certification is meant to simulate, in a safe environment, a scenario that a rower could realistically find themselves in. it is meant to educate rowers so they know what it could be like to be in the water with their rowing clothing on.

Please come to the YMCA wearing what you would wear in a boat during a cold weather practice. Think about what you would realistically be rowing in during the late Fall or early Spring. Girls, just to make life easier, you might want to wear a swim suit under your clothing. Boys, it will be awkward to try to fit swim trunks under your trou, so use your best judgement about what you should wear. Many of the kids would be wearing their rowing jackets, and we know through experience that the rowing jackets get very heavy when wet. If you don’t mind getting your rowing jacket wet with chlorine, you could wear that. If not, then maybe something similar (although you wouldn’t be wearing it to row, a standard cotton sweatshirt might work in this case).

This also includes socks. If you would be wearing wool socks, please wear those as well. Again, the goal is to help rowers understand what it will be like to be in the water with your rowing clothing on so they are prepared if it should ever happen.

Also, please bring the following:

• A change of clothing (because you won’t want to wear your wet clothes home)

• A plastic bag to bring your wet clothing home in

Part 2 - US Rowing Safety Video & Safety Education

After the swim certification is complete, the rowers will watch US Rowing's Safety Video (approximately 30 minutes) and discuss the safety issues that they may face on the water.