12 January 2009

Infant not drowning in a swimming pool


This video is ever-so-slightly disturbing on first viewing, because you know that for the production of the video the infant was tossed into the water, and it was created for a commercial purpose to market water-safety training for infants and children.

But I've decided to blog it because it does serve a useful purpose. Most well-informed adults know that even the smallest infants can be competent swimmers, with excellent breath-holding reflexes and effective "primeval" swim strokes. There are lots of pix and videos of infants and toddlers performing admirably underwater.

This video is the first I've seen in which an infant lies quietly in a backfloat position; I don't know to what extent such a small infant has been "taught" this maneuver vs. how much of it is intrinsic knowledge. It certainly gave me a "wow!" reaction to see the child float virtually motionless for such a long period. I'm sure they must have used a very warm pool and suspect that in cold water the child would be less calm and relaxed - but I'm still impressed.

It's an intriguing video. I recommend watching it.

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