Summer Camp Water Safety: Questions Parents Should Ask

Before you sign up for a camp, ask how it handles swimming: who tests your child's swimming ability, how non-swimmers are kept in shallow water, how often buddy checks happen, how many lifeguards and counselors watch the water, and what happens on field trips. A good camp answers clearly and shows you its written plan. Rules vary by state, so this guide uses New York's and Michigan's published camp rules as examples of what "good" looks like.

The same questions apply to day camps, after-school programs and child care centers that use pools, sprinklers or wading pools.

Why camps need a plan

For children 5 to 14, public or community pools are the most common known place where pool drowning deaths happen, according to the CPSC's 2026 pool and spa report (opens in a new tab). For the same age group, the CDC says over 40% of drownings happen in natural water (opens in a new tab), such as lakes and rivers. Camps often use both.

Michigan's camp guidance puts it plainly: aquatic activities are one of the highest risk activity areas (opens in a new tab) in children's camp programs.

Questions for any camp

• How do you test swimming ability, and who does it?
• How do you keep non-swimmers in shallow water, and how can staff tell swimmers from non-swimmers at a glance?
• How does your buddy system work, and how often do you do buddy checks?
• How many certified lifeguards are on duty, and how many counselors watch from in or beside the water?
• What is your lost-swimmer plan?
• How do you handle swimming on field trips to pools, beaches, lakes and water parks?
• Do campers wear life jackets in boats and in deep water if they aren't strong swimmers?
• Which staff have current CPR and first aid training?
• Can I see your written water safety plan?
• Who do I tell about my child's swimming level, medical needs or fears?

Swim tests and buddy systems

Swim tests. In New York, a camper must be assessed by a Progressive Swimming Instructor (opens in a new tab) to be classed as a swimmer and allowed into water deeper than chest height. Untested campers may be treated as non-swimmers. Michigan's rules say all campers and staff are considered non-swimmers unless tested (opens in a new tab).

Separate areas. New York requires the swim area to be divided into at least non-swimmer and swimmer areas, with non-swimmers kept in water less than chest deep (except in approved learn-to-swim programs, or with a counselor in the water directly supervising up to three non-swimmers). The state explains why: children become buoyant in chest-deep water and can lose contact with the bottom, then drift into deeper water than they can handle.

Telling swimmers apart. New York camps must clearly identify non-swimmers, using things like colored caps, wristbands or T-shirts, unless a physical barrier keeps them out of deep water. A float line doesn't count as a barrier.

Buddy checks. New York requires a buddy system with each swimmer's name, ability and area recorded, and checks at least every 15 minutes (opens in a new tab). Buddies are paired by swimming ability and told to tell a lifeguard if their partner is in trouble or missing. Michigan requires checks at least every 10 minutes at a camp waterfront, and every 5 minutes at other sites.

Lifeguards and counselors

New York's rules for on-site camp swimming:

Source: New York State Department of Health (opens in a new tab). Other states set their own numbers, so ask your camp which rules it follows.

Lifeguards are essential, but they can't see everything. Pool Safely reminds families that lifeguards may not see the whole pool (opens in a new tab), which is why counselors assigned to specific children matter.

Field trips to pools, beaches and water parks

Off-site swimming is where plans often break down: new place, more children, different rules.

New York's rules for camp trips:

• If the facility has its own lifeguards, the camp still provides one qualified lifeguard or trained staff member for every 75 campers to supervise and run the camp's safety plan.
• If the facility has no lifeguards, the camp must provide one qualified lifeguard for every 25 bathers.
• Counselors supervise at 1:8 for campers 6 and older and 1:6 for campers under 6.
• Each camper needs a signed permission statement from a parent or guardian for trip swimming, listing the dates, location and activities.

Michigan requires one aquatic observer to assist the aquatic supervisor for every 10 campers in the water at sites away from the permanent camp waterfront.

Ask your camp to show you how it handles trips, and say so if your child shouldn't swim in deep water.

Child care, preschool and after-school programs

Water shows up in child care more often than people think: sensory tables, sprinklers, wading pools, bathrooms and field trips.

• Touch supervision. The AAP recommends that a supervising adult who can swim stay within arm's length (opens in a new tab) of infants, toddlers and weak swimmers.
• Empty it after use. The AAP says never to leave a filled, open-top container of water unattended, and to empty containers that collect rainwater. Pool Safely says to put inflatable pools away (opens in a new tab) when they aren't in use.
• Secure bathrooms. The AAP suggests keeping the bathroom door latched (opens in a new tab) and using toilet lid locks for toddlers.
• Never use a child as the supervisor. The AAP says never leave a baby or young child in or near water in the care of another child (opens in a new tab).
• Write it down. Put your water rules, field trip plan and emergency plan in your staff handbook, and check your state's child care licensing rules, which may set their own requirements.

Supervised child care itself protects children. The World Health Organization says community-based, supervised childcare for pre-school children can reduce drowning risk (opens in a new tab).

Training counselors

Counselors are often teenagers or young adults in their first job. Give them real training before campers arrive:

• how to spot the quiet signs of drowning;
• the camp's buddy system, head counts and lost-swimmer plan;
• reach or throw, don't go, and where the rescue equipment is;
• who calls 911 and how; see how to write a water emergency action plan;
• CPR and first aid; see where to learn CPR.

New York's rules require a lost-swimmer plan that includes clearing the water, supervising the other campers and searching (opens in a new tab). Michigan requires each water activity to have a written emergency plan that staff understand and practice.

Use our free training session and checklist:

What you can do today

• Copy the "Questions for any camp" list into an email to your child's camp or child care center.
• Tell the camp your child's real swimming level, and ask that they be treated as a non-swimmer until tested.
• If you run a camp, schedule a counselor training session and a lost-swimmer drill before opening day.
• Sign up your child for swim lessons; see water safety for kids ages 5 to 12.
• Pack a properly fitted life jacket if your child will be boating or swimming in natural water.