To mark the first day of summer and coincide with National Water Safety Day 2025, the Australian Swim Schools Association (ASSA) has released a brand-new children’s song aimed at making water safety messages stick. Literally.
“Splish, Splash, SAFER Dash!” is a joyful, upbeat track designed to help children remember and act on key safety behaviours around water. Featuring the beloved SAFER WaterWarriors – Glide, Skye, Force, Dash and Yindy – the song weaves together catchy lyrics, fun movement prompts and critical safety messages drawn from ASSA’s SAFER swimming layers of protection.
Released across YouTube and Spotify, the track is part of ASSA’s ongoing commitment to supporting swim schools, families and educators in embedding water safety into everyday summer fun.
The lyrics are intentionally designed to be memorable and engaging for children, with playful repetition, rhyme and movement prompts like:
“Splish, splash, SAFER Dash”
“Step in slow, not in a flash”
“Spin around and clap your hands”
“Water play with clever plans”
Super skills, not super powers.
Each S.A.F.E.R. WaterWarrior represents a key layer of water safety. Glide encourages regular swimming skills practice. Skye reinforces the importance of adult supervision. Force reminds children to keep pool fences and gates closed. Dash promotes having an emergency plan. Yindy brings it all together by always being ‘ready’ around water. Learn more.
There’s good science behind the approach. Music is one of the most powerful tools for learning and memory, especially for young children. By combining rhythm, melody and language, songs can activate both memory and emotional centres in the brain.
Song-Led Activation for Swim Schools.
“Music isn’t just entertainment. It’s one of the most effective learning tools we have, especially for children aged 3 to 8,”
said Luke Daly, CEO of ASSA.
“By turning these critical water safety messages into a song, we’re giving parents, swim teachers and kids a resource they’ll actually want to use and repeat.”
The launch of the song on 1 December was no coincidence. As the official first day of summer and National Water Safety Day, it marks a critical time to ensure water safety is front of mind for families as they prepare for holidays, travel or time around pools, rivers or beaches.
“Our goal is always to make water safety and learning to swim accessible, engaging and front-of-mind.” Daly said. “This song is just one piece of a much bigger effort across the country.”
To complement the song, ASSA offers a growing range of S.A.F.E.R. WaterWarriors campaign resources exclusively for members. These include posters, storybooks, temporary tattoos, storyboards, lesson aids and campaign kits.
All are designed to make safety messages more visible, memorable and actionable within swim schools and their communities.
Whether it’s decorating a pool deck or reinforcing a swim lesson, these tools help keep SAFER swimming front and centre.
Media contact: Luke Daly
Mob: +61 414 086 858
Let's all become
S.A.F.E.R. WaterWarriors.
S ~ Swimming & Water Safety — GLIDE
Ongoing lessons build water confidence and skills.
Glide is really good at her swimming and water safety skills, but also knows how important those skills are and is the greatest champion at making sure those skills are learned early and practiced consistently through the year.
“Children drown all year round – keep their swimming skills strong by continuing lessons all year long!”
Great advice from Glide, ASSA’s SAFER WaterWarrior and champion for everyone learning how to swim!
SWIMMING SKILLS Save Lives.
A ~ Adult Supervision — SKYE
Always watch and stay within arm’s reach of children under five years old.
Skye’s superskill is her vision, the ability to spot situations where SUPERVISION is needed.
“Supervision means constant eye contact and being within arms reach when children are in or around water”
A wise message from Skye, our SAFERwater Warrior who champions Adult Supervision. She reminds is all that an adult needs to be focussed on supervision at ALL times and not distracted by their phone, a book or a friendly chat.
SUPERVISION Saves Lives.
F ~ Fences & Gates — FORCE
Keep all pool barriers secure and compliant.
Force’s special ability is the power of protection.
“After periods of rain, please check your pool fence for loose panels – a strong pool fence matters!”
Great advice from Force, ASSA’s SAFERwater Warrior for barriers.
FENCES AND GATES Save Lives.
E ~ Emergency Plans — DASH
Know what to do. Learn CPR and First Aid if you own a pool.
Dash is all about Emergency Planning, and if something were to happen, he’s super quick to act – He knows what to do because he’s planned well.
“If you haven’t thought about what you would do if there was an emergency in or around water, here are my top tips!”
- If a child is missing, check any water areas FIRST – seconds count
- Ensure everyone who cares for your child, including you, knows CPR
- Have an Emergency Action Plan in place, especially if you have a backyard pool.
EMERGENCY PLANNING Saves Lives.
R ~ Ready & Knowing — YINDI
The Guardian of the WaterWarriors says “Stay alert and keep children in sight around any type of water to reduce the chance of drowning.”
Our WaterWarriors are young, energetic, and use their super skills well, brought together by their Guardian, Yindy.
“We need all the WaterWarrior’s super skills and actions to keep children SAFER in and around water.”
Yindy’s name is derived from Yindyamarra.
This is an Australian First Nation’s word that is often translated as “respect”. It can also mean to give honour, to slow things and to take responsibility, and this is what she does for Glide, Skye, Force and Dash.
