Swimming is a popular form of strenuous exercise that alternately serves as a recreational activity, a competitive sport, and a survival skill. The inability to swim not only deprives people of swimming’s health benefits and pleasures but may also jeopardize their lives. The Centers for Disease Control and the National Safety Council reported 4,600 drownings in the United States in 1989. Although the number of drownings has declined since 1980 (7,257) and 1986 (5,596), drowning is still the third most common cause of unintentional injury death for all ages and ranks second for ages 5-44 years (S. P. Baker, O’Neill, Ginsburg, & Li, 1992).