Is your child ready to move on from Swimming? Level up with Lifesaving Skills!

It can be hard to keep children engaged in extra-curricular clubs and sports, whilst also making sure they’re pursuing healthy, sociable and fun extra-curricular activities worth their time. This can often be the case with swimming, as naturally, your child could have reached a level where their abilities have plateaued – or they could simply have become bored after years of honing their skills.  

If you’re keen for your youngster to continue with something aquatic whilst learning new, exciting and potentially lifesaving skills, we recommend that you look up a local club or leisure centre that delivers one of our Rookie Lifeguard (8 – 12 years) or National Lifesaving Academy (12+ years) programmes. 

Here's all you need to know about the programmes we offer – and why your children should definitely ‘just keep swimming!’ 

Rookie Lifeguard Programme 

Established in the 1980s, RLSS UK’s Rookie Lifeguard Programme has become a well-loved fixture in leisure centres across the UK and Ireland. The programme offers swimmers aged 8+ the opportunity to expand their abilities by learning basic water rescue and lifesaving skills. In turn, becoming a Rookie Lifeguard also helps children build their confidence, develop teamwork skills and foster leadership. Each session is guaranteed to be fun, engaging, active and deliver vital water safety skills and knowledge that will last a lifetime. 

What’s more, 2025 will see us launch Rookie Rescue Skills; a purpose-built programme for children with disabilities to learn basic self-rescue and lifesaving skills. Developed with our strategic partner Level Water, Rookie Rescue Skills classes will be small enough for lots of 1:1 teaching and support and offer the perfect progression from swimming lessons. 

National Lifesaving Academy 

The RLSS UK National Lifesaving Academy (NLA) awards are a suite of progressive awards that teach personal survival, first aid, CPR, rescue, and fitness skills to anyone aged 12 years and over. Designed as either a standalone programme or a natural progression from Rookie Lifeguard graduates; they aim to teach candidates how to stay safe around water and how to safely assist others who may have gotten into difficulty in both aquatic and non-aquatic situations. 

Upon achieving the Bronze Medallion level of the NLA award, your child will receive Recognition of Prior Learning hours towards our RLSS UK vocational lifeguard qualifications, providing a great stepping stone into potential employment as a Lifeguard.  

Lifesaving Sport  

If your child loves the competitive element of swimming but is looking for something new and exciting to get into, lots of lifesaving clubs also take part in lifesaving as a sport. Lifesaving Sport is a sport recognised by the International Olympic Committee and the Commonwealth Games Federation – but more importantly – it's the only sport your child could partake in where the skills are first learned for humanitarian purposes. The events involved in Lifesaving Sport are fun, dynamic and challenging and there are regular opportunities for those who wish to compete on a regional, national and international level! 

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