STAGE 5 SILVER
Silver. Intermediate survival and stroke refinement.
Diving fundamentals, advanced personal survival and rescue skills. Students must demonstrate efficient stroke technique to complete Stage 5.
Intermediate Personal Survival & Stroke Refinement Skills
What students demonstrate
Silver (Stage 5) adds timed stroke performance, deep-water surface dives and the H.E.L.P. technique.
- 50m
Front crawl within 1:30
- 50m
Breaststroke within 1:50
- 50m
Backstroke within 1:40
- 25m
Survival backstroke
- 25m
Sidestroke
- 10m
Dolphin kick on front
- 3m
Underwater through pool-bottom hoops
- 30sec
H.E.L.P. posture in deep water
Clothing for assessment. Assessed in swimwear, long pants and t-shirt. Long pants add weight and restriction, challenging learners with increased drag while swimming and performing survival skills. This prepares them for realistic water emergencies.
On assessment day. A purple swimming cap is issued to all Stage 5 participants when they arrive at the Centralised Assessment Centre.
Entries & Exits
- Dive entry (crouching).
Sculling & Body Orientation
- Backward somersault in the water.
- Scull, float or tread whilst putting on a PFD in water.
Underwater Skills
- In at least 1.4m deep water, perform feet-first surface dive, swim through hoops on pool bottom for 3m.
Movement / Swimming / Strokes
- 50m front crawl within 1:30 min.
- 50m breaststroke within 1:50 min.
- 50m backstroke within 1:40 min.
- 25m survival backstroke.
- 25m sidestroke.
- Dolphin kick 10m on front.
Survival & Activity Skills
What you wear & carry
Swimwear T-shirt Long pants PFD Goggles
- Clothed in swimwear, long pants and t-shirt: enter deep water using straddle jump.
- Perform backward somersault.
- Submerge using feet-first surface dive.
- Swim through pool-bottom hoops for 3m and resurface.
- Swim 45m quickly using front crawl.
- Signal for help and receive PFD thrown by rescuer.
- Retrieve a PFD in water and fit it while treading water.
- Demonstrate H.E.L.P. (Heat Escape Lessening Posture) for 30 sec.
- Swim 25m with PFD and exit water.
Rescue Skills
- Throw a PFD to a partner 3m away and instruct the partner to kick to the edge.
Knowledge
- Principles of Personal Safety and Survival.
- Environmental Awareness.
- Health Awareness.
- Emergency Situations and Survival Techniques.
- Rescues.
Watch: the skill in action
A short, muted loop showing Silver criteria performed correctly.
VIDEO PLACEHOLDER
Silver demonstration. Coming soon.
Self-hosted MP4 loop. 10–30 seconds, muted, autoplay, no third-party branding. Drop the file into /public/videos/stage-silver.mp4 and add videoSrc to the stage data file.