Water safety basics for swimming and kayaking – ‘when in doubt, get out’
- Several people drown in Hong Kong every year. Don’t be one of them. Experts reveal the one swimming stroke you should always learn, along with how to float
- If you are doing water sports, know how to tread water, they say. Always swim or kayak with others, and save your life before trying to save others
When Johnnie Chi-kau Chan was 14 years old, he was swimming at a pool in Hong Kong when he started to panic. “Help, help, help!,” he shouted, before the lifeguards came to his rescue.
It wasn’t that Chan didn’t know how to swim – in fact, he was in a competition. “I was the last one,” he says. “My peers were all in front of me, so I panicked at the time.” He had overestimated his physical ability, and was taken aback by the quick change in water depth at the pool in Tuen Mun, in the New Territories.
The incident compelled Chan to improve his swimming skills, take lifeguard training courses and later to join the Auxiliary Medical Service. He now serves as honorary secretary of the Hong Kong Life Saving Society (HKLSS), which helps promote life-saving.
Since its inception in 1956, the HKLSS has recorded more than 33,600 rescues (with 127 in 2019 and 47 in 2020). Keeping safety front of mind before and while engaging in water sports is key, Chan says. “Prevention is always better than rescue.”