Water Safety First

01/15/2026

Sunday January 18 at 8pm is when Coach Elianna’s February lesson registration will be opening! We will know what days she’ll be working as of Saturday, and will update here and on the websites with that information. They will be afterschool sessions.

Water Safety First is incredibly fortunate to have Coach Elianna on our team. We strive to provide the highest possible quality of instruction, professionalism and cleanliness, but that’s only possible if we are well balanced ourselves. For that reason, we decided it would be best to release Elianna’s schedule one month at a time for the Winter season, to ensure school, work and play are evenly distributed.

Thank you so much to everyone who has entrusted us with your swimming goals, and allowed us to be a part of your journey! We look forward to seeing you in the water!

12/25/2025

Merry Christmas from Water Safety First! Thank you to everyone who has entrusted us with your swimming journey! We truly love what we do.

Coach Elianna and Coach Jessica sold out the first week of swim sessions! There are a couple of openings for next week, before the New Year! Visit www.watersafetyfirst.ca and click, “Register Now” to book in.

12/06/2025

Paw Patrol is on a roll, and this little human is ready to jump in to help out! She has been anxious at even the thought of putting on her PFD (personal floatation device), during her swimming lessons. Her “homework” was to try on her own PFD at home, and get comfortable wearing it and zipping the zippers and buckling up!
Mom sent me this picture and I couldn’t be more happy to see her practising with her pups! She LOVES Paw Patrol and there’s a swimming scene on the New Christmas episode, so she decided to “be safe like the pups” and test it out! Way to go A! I can’t wait for you to try it out in the water with me next time!
I genuinely love seeing videos and pictures of my students when they achieve a skill that they have been trying to work on. I always ask permission from parents before sharing any pictures or videos. 🤗

12/01/2025

This is the cutest little tugboat that transports a few vehicles at a time, across the Fraser River, from Surrey to Barnston Island. It operates 7 days a week, and is free to ride. We have been visiting this island for a while, to visit a farm where they sell the best free range, organic chicken eggs.
Every time we go I get the kids to unbuckle, roll down the windows, and if it’s not raining, we get out of the vehicle. I remind them where the lifejackets are, and talk about what we would do if we fell in the water, and where we would swim to. It’s the simple things that I sometimes take for granted, that I share with my children. I’m sharing these reminders with you, because I think it’s important to have discussions like these with yourself, and your family members whenever you’re in, on, or around water.

11/25/2025

Taking a moment to reflect on last weeks Ripple Effects Conference. Kimiko and I never planned on attending this conference because we were supposed to be presenting at the World Conference on Drowning Prevention in Egypt this week! Unfortunately, Lifesaving Society Canada released a statement at the end of August, saying they no longer condoned travel to Egypt due to the political warfare in Gaza. We were devastated to cancel our trip. Flights, accommodation and conference fees had already been booked and paid for. The refund process has been painfully slow, however, I believe that everything happens for a reason!

In the mean time, life goes on at home. Local gatherings and conferences ensue, and knowledge is shared locally between aquatic professionals. Coach Elianna and I have submitted an abstract to present at the first ever Youth Aquatic Conference in Calgary, AB, this Spring! We hope to inspire others to join us, and consider a career in aquatics. The work we do is invaluable. It’s never too late to join the aquatic world! Guest speaker Michael Rasher, Canadian gold medalist, and late bloomer to lifeguarding, would say the same thing!

11/11/2025

Mark your calendars! Registration opens on November 20 at 9pm for lessons taking place between January 1st to March 13, 2026! Ask Santa to buy you something useful this year!

Coach Elianna will be continuing on throughout the New Year! She will be offering Wednesdays and Fridays between 3:30-7:45pm!

Coach Jessica will be offering lessons Tuesday to Friday between 9-1:40pm.

We instruct the Lifesaving Society’s Learn to Swim Program, and offer progress reports (report cards), and stickers and badges, just like the local City Pools. Water Safety First is a registered and licensed affiliate of the Lifesaving Society.

Any age and ability level is welcome to register, although it’s preferable to start lessons at 6 months of age. It’s never too late to learn this important life skill!
Facts:
✅71 % of the Earth’s surface is covered in water
✅Canada has the most lakes than any other country in the world
✅Children under 5 AND men aged 18-49 are at the highest risk of drowning
✅67% of drownings in BC and the Yukon occur between May through September
✅78% of people who drown in BC and the Yukon are male
✅55% of drownings in BC and the Yukon occur while using a powerboat

Learn to swim with the best of the best!

11/07/2025

Proud moment for this family yesterday. They travel a long distance to come for swim lessons. She has a very hard time every lesson. She has Autism and is mostly non verbal. Her tears, screams and genuine look of fear is undoubtedly real. She tries to grasp to my neck and hold on for dear life every lesson, but yesterday we finally pushed through her fear and she found peace in this position. She even smiled and nearly fell asleep. Dad was also in the water helping, and took these pictures and videos to show her and her Mom later.

We tried singing different songs, using a mirror overhead so she could see herself, removing the swim cap, holding on to various size toys- some offering buoyancy and some not. We stopped and took breaks and gave BIG hugs. All of my tactics came out but nothing seemed to work, until magically she surrendered to calm. We stayed here for about 5 minutes. She stopped crying, she experimented with breathing deeply, and she let it all go. I was nearly in tears myself watching this happen. It truly is special.

It’s mentally exhausting to argue with your child about partaking in an activity they don’t naturally enjoy- I get it! However, I believe it’s worth the battle when it comes to being water competent, and knowing how to float to save your life.

Keep on going. Every lesson counts. You never know when that light switch is going to turn on. You can do it. Your future self will thank you.

10/28/2025

Post cold water exposure water safety chat! I’m out of breath from trying to swim 25metres in very cold water! Madelyn was most bothered by how cold her feet got, but we warmed up quickly, thanks to the supports in place from the team working with us!

As we drove to the lake this morning, we passed over the Veddar River, where many people were fishing. Yesterday, a 41 year old man from Langley, drowned in the river. He was thought to be fishing, based on his attire. Please remember to wear a lifejacket, even if fishing from the edge of the river. The recent heavy rainfalls have impacted the water levels in the lakes and rivers. Water speed, levels, and temperature can change incredibly fast. The conditions you experience today may not be the same tomorrow.

10/28/2025

Today my oldest daughter and I got to work with the Canuck Autism Network and the Lifesaving Society to create video content for a special project they are working on. This project is funded by the Government of 🇨🇦 and will help neurodivergent individuals learn to complete the Swim to Survive challenge- roll into deep water, tread water for 1 minute, and swim 50 metres. This is what the Lifesaving Society has deemed as the minimum swimming skills needed to increase your chance of survival in a water related incident.

We filmed at Cultus Lake, in Chilliwack, B.C.
The water temperature was 55 degrees Fahrenheit. There was snow on the mountains from last night, and it was COLD! We wore full body wetsuits under our clothes, but it was still chilly! There was an abundance of Canadian geese and a shocking amount of salmon in the lake! Apparently they are only there for a week or so out of the year?! (Info from the camera crew). It was a day to remember, and a reminder for Madelyn and I that it takes minutes to become stiff in cold water!

Thanks to and for inviting us to work on this special project with you! We can’t wait to see the final edits!

10/13/2025