Many people have asked why they need to learn anything further than swimming. Wouldn’t it waste their time and slow down their progress? Absolutely not! Here’s why.

Learning to swim should happen in a holistic way. There was an 8-year-old lovely boy who was recently found drowned in a crowded swimming pool in North Yorkshire with three lifeguards on duty. Knowing how to swim is just not enough.

One must know how to survive and save lives in water to prevent any water accidents. In reviewing the current swimming syllabus in Singapore, the National Water Safety Council and Singapore Sports Council have decided to combine lifesaving and water survival in the current swimming programme. Hence, we have the SwimSafer Programme.

Further than that, the new swimming programme, SwimSafer, has attracted more students than ever before. It makes the lesson more fun and livelier. Besides swimming, students learn how to use a Personal Floatation Device (PFD), how to accurately throw a rope and flotation aid to a victim, and how to tow the victim back to the pool side. All these types of training have students looking forward to each lesson.

The testing scheme has also improved as part of the new SwimSafer Programme. From Swimsafer Stages 1, 2, and 3 to Bronze, Silver, and Gold, students will be able to have a better idea of what level they are at with their swimming. Once they graduate from each level, students will receive a certificate and a badge. These items will be useful for applying for jobs or joining any specific activities in the future.

More information about this new and beneficial programme can be found on our SwimSafer Page.

Ever complained about swimming pool too crowded in Singapore?

Check this out…

Summerland Water World, Tokyo

This is the world’s most crowded swimming pool in the world, which is located in Tokyo Japan. Everyone is squeezing in to get a spot in the pool. That’s it! No swimming at all.

Now, let’s look at Singapore’s swimming pools. We have 24 public swimming complexes in Singapore with two more on their way. In addition to various size condo swimming pools, I dare say we are one of the cities with most swimming pools in the world as compared to the land area. This is how Singapore’s government encourages the residents to swim. Two thumbs up!

OnTo further encourage swimming, the entrance fee to swimming pools in Singapore is rather cheap compared to other countries. Just less than two bucks with some only costing 50 cents, you can swim for the whole day! The cleanliness is excellent with daily cleaning and one half day closures per week for maintenance.

There are some swimming pools like Jurong East, Jurong West, Choa Chu Kang and Sengkang that are known as featured pools with very nice facilities, such as a lazy river, Jacuzzi, slides and so much more to enjoy!

For this weekend, don’t be a stay-at-home TV family. Join us for some fun at any one of Singapore’s swimming pools!

First Silver Medal for Singapore in YOG 2010 by Rainer Ng (Swimming Backstroke – 50 meters)
0.09 seconds behind the champion. It was so close to GOLD!

To safeguard more people from drowning, the National Water Safety Council has developed a new water safety programme, SwimSafer, with the aim of imparting Singaporeans, especially children, with the necessary water safety knowledge and a wide range of water survival skills.

Knowing just to swim is not enough. Swimmers need to know about water safety and what they should do when they run into difficulty in the water. Thus, this new programme, SwimSafer, aims to teach water survival skills and drowning prevention techniques, on top of swimming skills.

SwimSafer is an improved version of the Learn-To-Swim Programme (LTSP) and the National Survival Swimming Award (NASSA), and will replace both the latter to be the only national water safety programme. In addition, a programme that instructs both swimming proficiency and water survival skills is necessary in view of more than 65% of drowning incidences in Singapore (from 2005 to 2008) occurring in the seas, rivers and reservoirs.

The SwimSafer programme comprises six stages – SwimSafer Stage 1 and progressively, Stage 2, Stage 3, Bronze, Silver and Gold – that incorporate the essential elements of swimming, water survival and life saving skills to prepare students to react appropriately when faced with sudden and adverse aquatic situations. These six stages would be taught and tested within the confines of a swimming pool setting. Each stage will take roughly 3 to 6 months to complete.


In response to SwimSafer, Happy Fish Swim School will soon prepare a test for all students to gauge their swimming and water skills level in order to group them accordingly. We believe that this will promote a better learning environment and allow students to progress more effectively as they tend to learn from peers in the same class.



As such, our programme has been re-designed to be on a term-by-term learning basis. Each term will last for 3 months (12 lessons). Upon completion of a term, students will then take their SwimSafer test. Certificates will be issued to those who successfully pass the test.



This new programme design will also be of benefit because we realise that newcomers who join half way through a class session tend to interrupt the progress of other students who have been there longer. Now, with our new programme, you can be assured that there won’t be any newcomers joining your class after the second lesson of each term. Instead, they will be added to upcoming sessions for beginners. This means that every student of the same class will start, learn, and graduate together as long as they all pass their SwimSafer test.



At Happy Fish Swim School, we believe that learning to swim should promote lifelong skills and be fun! We love to swim, and our goal is to teach our students to love it too!

When using swimming pools in Singapore, it is recommended that you take a shower before and after you swim.

You may ask, “Do I really have to shower after swimming? Why can’t I wait until later at night?” These are two of the most common questions we get.

Take shower before and after you swim

Well, don’t be lazy. Let me tell you why it is so important to shower after swimming.

 A recent study showed that the mixture of disinfectants, common consumer products like make-up and sun screen that are nitrogen-rich, perspiration from other swimmers, skin cells, and urine, create chemical compounds that are toxic and carcinogenic. It can aggravate asthma and elevate the risk of bladder, breast, and bowel cancer as well as malignant melanoma.

However, you can help to prevent all of these by simply taking a shower after swimming. See? Imagine you can wash all these down the drains. How nice! 

On the other hand, taking a shower before swimming is also very important. Since people will share the swimming pool, we all have the responsibility to take care of it. Make sure you are clean before entering the pool so you don’t bring sweat and dirt in along with you.

Remember not to urinate inside the pool. I understand it’s fast and easy to do so, but it can become toxic when mixed together with chlorine. It’s just not worth it. Think long term and make it a habit to go to the toilet prior to getting in the pool. Thank you so much for taking care of the swimming pools

For those who plan to go for a swim. Kindly check out the closure period of public swimming complexes for Youth Olympic Games YOG 2010 as shown below.

Bishan Swimming Complex will be closed from 2 Aug 10 to 1 Sep 10.
Kallang Basin Swimming Complex wil be closed from 1 Jul 10 to 31 Aug 10.
Jurong West Swimming Complex will be closed from 2 Aug 10 to 1 Sep 10.
Buona Vista Swimming Complex will be closed from 1 Jul 10 to 31 Aug 10.
Toa Payoh Swimming Complex will be closed from 1 Jul 10 to 11 Sep 10.

For more swimming pools information, please check out our swimming pools information.

Happy Fish is one of the fastest growing swimming school in Singapore since 2007. Today with network of over 200 passionate and certified swimming instructors, Happy Fish provides group and private swimming lesson for all ages all across the island. Happy Fish is committed to help customers to achieve water confident and equip with excellent swimming skills quick and easy.

Customer Service Coordinator

Responsibilities:
• Responsible for processing of customer enquiry through emails and phone calls.
• Liaise with customers on their sales enquiries
• Customise service to the needs of customer
• Able to generate sales from customers’ enquiries and achieve a certain target
• Liaise and coordinate with swimming instructors on issues relating to customers
• Attend to telephone calls
• Other ad-hoc admin and simple accounting duties

Requirement:
• Singaporean or PR
• Fast learner, motivated, deadline and customer oriented.
• Team player with good integrity
• Cheerful and Friendly
• Able to communicate in English and Mandarin (Preferred)

Working Location:
• Jurong East (Walking Distance from MRT Station)

Salary:
• Starting Salary: SGD1200 + Monthly Bonus

Interested applicants may send a detailed resume to: jacqueline@swimminglessons.com.sg

Source: PUB Singapore

Traditionally, there are fewer people who like to learn swimming during the rainy season. However, recently, this trend has changed direction. There is a trend toward increasing enquiries during this rainy season. We are not sure whether it has to do with the recent flood in Singapore.

Singapore is a structured city and encounters fewer floods than any other country. But recently, the rain god has proven us wrong. The city was flooded three times within a month. Even though the drainage system works well, the flood was still unavoidable due to heavy rain.

There was a lady who nearly drowned during the flood a few weeks ago. This has alerted the public that it’s time to equip themselves with a new life skill — Swimming. Of course, we don’t learn swimming because there was a flood in Singapore; it’s because swimming is helpful to know for our daily activities. Don’t forget we live on a small island surrounded by water. We really should know how to swim as no one can predict what’s going to happen next.

” Swimming is a very important aspect of your life. For the safety of you and your family, you should really learn swimming even if you are not taking lessons from Happy Fish. “

The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is one of the major events that is hosted in Singapore. The whole nation is thrilled when Singapore was announced as the host city of YOG 2010. Those who were sitting in front of the TV and those gathered at the Padang all celebrated this moment of joy!

YOG Countdown timer @ ION Orchard

Now, YOG 2010 is just around the corner. We can see the countdown meters in every corner — Jurong Point, ION orchard, and many other places.

Hosting the Youth Olympic Games in such a small country is not easy. The government has really put all of their efforts into hosting this event. The swimming pools and sport complexes have been renovated to welcome this event too. The government has also reserved a special road lane for YOG-related personnel to avoid having them trapped in a traffic jam during the event.

There is also a Youth Olympic Village located on the National Technology University (NTU) campus, which will accommodate 5,000 athletes and team officials. The village is divided in two zones, which are the residential zone and village square. You may click here to read more about the Youth Olympic Village.

During the event, various sports and swimming complexes will be closed, so those who wish to swim or use the facilities have to use an alternate location. Although this has caused inconvenience for lots of people, everyone still shows their support for this event. You may check for facility closures by visiting the Singapore Sports Council’s website.

Many have shown their support as well by signing up for YOG volunteers as marshals, facilitators, HR personnel, admin staff, and many other roles. The response was overwhelming. The registration is now closed, but you are still welcome to be part of the opening and closing ceremonies. The organizing committee is looking for people of different nationalities to be part of a special segment during the Opening Ceremony. If you are interested, click this link for more information.

There are 26 types of sports going on in different areas and locations of Singapore. Many who live around these locations will get to see the competition from a higher building. Check out the competition venues here. If you wish to get information about watching the competition up close, make sure you buy the tickets from the YOG Website. Or, you can choose to stay at home and watch it from your TV.

The YOG Ambassador Michael Phelps will not come to Singapore this time due to his competition schedule. It is a bit disappointing, but those videos that he published on the Internet, regarding Youth Olympic Games, were awesome. He truly inspired young athletes to train themselves to become better. How I wish I could have interviewed him personally and asked him a few questions on behalf of those who have great passion in swimming.

YOG Mascots - Lyo & Merly

The two cute mascots for the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, called Lyo and Merly, are indeed very unique and symbolize the lion city. Each mascot has a story behind them. The organizing committee has put a lot of effort into creating these two characters. Read more about them here. P.S. You can download them as wallpaper as well! If you are real YOG 2010 fans, make sure you get your YOG 2010 apparel and accessories from the YOG store. Wear all your YOG gear and be there to support your favourite team!

IOC President Jacques Rogge announce Singapore as host city of YOG 2010

If you are one of those who like to play computer games, you have to try the Youth Olympic Games on the net. There are three sports game to choose from – archery, weightlifting, and diving. The archery game is extremely challenging, by the way. I can imagine doing it real life. It must be 100 times more difficult than playing the game on the computer. Try it!

Frankly speaking, I was amazed that we beat out Moscow. I can still imagine the scene when the IOC President, Jacques Rogge, announced that Singapore was to be the host city on 21 February 2008. I was totally thrilled!

Thanks to all the heroes who made it possible. The proposal submitted must have written very nicely to win!

26 more days to go…

The new Channel 8 TV series, No Limits (泳闯琴关), has drawn many viewers and, at the same time, developed interest in learning to swim for many of Singaporeans. Compared to the previous swimming drama series, The Champion (任我遨游), the plot of No Limits is closer to daily swimming life. The story involves swimming instruction, the swimming school’s affairs, swimming competitions, and other swimming stories that surrounded a swimmer’s life. Viewers will better understand a swimmer’s life after watching this show.

It is also a great breakthrough for Felicia Chin, the female lead of this drama series in terms of her acting skills improving since the last show, The Champion. It’s not just Felicia because all the actresses on this show have put in an effort to learn swimming in order to make their role more believable. For most of the scenes, the actresses were swimming without using a stand-in. Compared to all the previous swimming dramas, this is a great improvement!

There were also some important lessons to learn in this drama, such as “a good swimming instructor doesn’t need to be top swimmer” and “don’t just teach children to swim; teach them to love swimming too.” I believe this will help those who are learning to swim to have a better understanding of what it’s about. Through this show, more people have started to develop their interest in swimming. Some have even signed up for swimming lessons. Especially for ladies swimming class.

Two thumbs up for this highly recommended show! For those who missed this show or live outside Singapore and can’t catch this show, here’s the link to watch it online:  http://video.xin.msn.com/watch/video/no-limits-%E6%B3%B3%E9%97%AF%E7%90%B4%E5%85%B3-episode-5/1gqb27alv