Choose to Swim Healthy!

Healthy swimming behaviors are needed to protect you and your kids from RWIs and will stop germs from getting in the pool in the first place. Here are six “pleas” that promote healthy swimming.

Three “pleas” For All Swimmers

Practice these three “pleas” to stop germs from causing illness at the pool.

Please don’t swim when you have diarrhea. This is especially important for kids in diapers. You can spread germs in the water and make other people sick.

Please don’t swallow the pool water. In fact, avoid getting water your mouth.

Please practice good hygiene. Take a shower before swimming and wash your hands after using the toilet or changing diapers. Germs on your body end up in the water.

Three “pleas” For Parents of Young Kids

Follow these three “pleas” to keep germs out of the pool and your community:

Please take your kids on bathroom breaks or change diapers often. Waiting to hear “I have to go” may mean that it’s too late.

Please change diapers in a bathroom and not at poolside. Germs can spread to surfaces and objects in and around the pool and spread illness.

Please wash your child thoroughly (especially the rear end) with soap and water before swimming. Everyone has invisible amounts of fecal matter on their bottoms that end up in the pool.

This fact sheet was based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Healthy Swimming Fact Sheets for Swimmers.

Visit the CDC’s Healthy Swimming webpages for more information.