The initiative came about after several stories emerged involving children drowning a metre or two from safety. They would not have needed to swim 50 metres to survive; they would only have needed to know how to move as little as five metres through the water to get to safety.
Our squads, made up of full time professional instructors and volunteers who want to share their joy of swimming with children, visit public swimming pools to teach the basics of survival swimming:
During one of our pilot programme sessions, it took just one two-hour lesson, for four instructors to assess and upskill 55 children.
These lessons are offered free of charge and are organised with the kind permission of facilities’ officers and by appointment.
If you are a strong swimmer, you can become a Survival Swimming instructor and teach life-saving skills.
The NSRI has three core Drowning Prevention programmes – Water Safety Education, Pink Rescue Buoys and Survival Swimming – and offers a range of free resources and educational materials.
“What drives me is knowing the Survival Swimming skills we teach, not only can save a life one day but will also change the lives of generations to come.’’
When 18-year-old Zinitha Manavele first arrived at the Long Street swimming pool in October 2024, she could barely swim and was scared of water. Less than six months later, she’s a certified volunteer survival swimming instructor inspiring young learners – and the entire NSRI team.
In a classroom in Ceres, a penguin and a tortoise are helping teach some of the town’s youngest children how to stay safe around water. These soft toys are part of the NSRI’s water safety lessons for children in creches. But thanks to the initiative of Drowning Prevention Instructor Eoudia Erasmus, the programme has taken a bold next step: bringing 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds into the pool to learn survival swimming.
As the summer season draws to a close, so too does another successful chapter of the NSRI’s Survival Swimming programme in Ceres. While hundreds of children benefited from weekly lessons in the municipal pools, one school, N’duli Primary, unfortunately, could not participate this season as the programme was already at full capacity.
Eight children recently put their Survival Swimming lessons to the test in an open-water environment after mastering essential skills in Survival Swimming Centre 1's swimming pool container.
On Saturday, 19th October, St Andrew's College, in collaboration with the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) and Station 11 Port Alfred, launched an impactful series of Survival Swimming lessons at the DT Hudson Pool complex.
In a heartwarming gesture of appreciation, Fluidra recently donated Christmas gift packs to instructors at NSRI Survival Swimming Centres (SSCs) across the country.
