Product Name: Body Buoy Swim Trainer
Topic/Problem Description:
Swimming is an incredibly important skill with numerous physical, mental and social benefits. In my opinion, it is something everyone should learn how to do. However, every hour, every day, more than 40 people lose their lives to drowning with 372,000 people drowning each year (World Health Organization). In addition, according to the Red Cross, 54% of Americans can’t swim well enough to save themselves. This is due to the many barriers of entry in the sport of swimming including access to a pool/body of water, ineffective lessons, family impact and a difficult learning curve. With the fear of drowning present, learning to swim can be scary and intimidating, especially without proper training. As a result, newcomers to swimming often use personal flotation devices such as lifejackets, kickboards and inflatable tubes. Although these provide a bit of reassurance to swimmers, they are primarily designed for lifesaving or leisure purposes and as a result, can be uncomfortable and unsafe. Using these devices can end up fostering bad habits and they are not teaching swimmers proper techniques to keep themselves afloat in the water. There are specific steps to learning how to swim all beginners must adapt to before they can feel fully comfortable in the water, including: putting their face in, breathing and treading. If we were able to address this difficult learning curve and the reluctance to learn due to fear, then we could reduce the risk of drowning and create a butterfly effect of water safety for all.
Solution:
Create a lightweight, adjustable personal flotation device (PFD) that focuses on the teaching and development of swimming skills. The design is titled: The Body Buoy, because it’s form fitting, ergonomic and acts as an adjunct to the current flotation system the body already has – the respiratory system. The Body Buoy would act as a support for beginning swimmers just as training wheels aid the learning of riding a bike. It consists of an elastic, waterproof outer shell surrounding closed cell polyethylene foam. For many swimmers, the hardest part is getting over the fear of drowning and just getting started in general. The Body Buoy provides just enough flotation and buoyancy to give swimmers confidence to “dip their toes in” and start learning. Compared to traditional life jackets, my design is much less buoyant in exchange for comfort, flexibility and range of motion. This allows swimmers to have full use of their arms and legs allowing them to learn how to swim in the correct way, giving them access to all four strokes and teaching healthy habits and skills. The target audience for the Body Buoy is anybody that has built up fears about learning how to swim and needs a helping hand to get over the hump. It is not a lifesaving device and should always be used with proper supervision and safety practices. Once the swimmers feel confident and safe, they should remove the body buoy and continue to utilize the proper techniques they have learned in order to feel secure, and fully enjoy the benefits that swimming offers.
