Children in the YMCA of Chilton County’s summer camp program stayed cool Wednesday morning as they learned about water safety and diving techniques at Clanton City Pool.

The Chilton County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team led 53 children ages 4-13 through water safety techniques and dive team demonstrations in a two-hour session.

“Every summer, we try to do a water safety and demonstration class,” Chilton County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Erric Price said. “There’s such a fascination of water for children, so we try to use that.”

Price explained that he and other dive team members try to come up with fun ways for children to learn about water safety, as well as what the dive team does and potential dangers associated with water.

Price said the team’s primary responsibilities are evidence recovery and drowning victim recovery.

On Wednesday, Price and two other dive team members taught children water safety tips for situations in which they are around water without a lifeguard or parent.

They recommended wearing a life jacket when on a boat, and wearing one regardless of swimming skills.

Price said campers got to look at and test some of the dive team’s equipment, including underwater breathing mechanisms called regulators and life jackets.

“We let them breathe off the regulators to let them see how it feels to breathe underwater,” Price said.

Campers also participated in team-building exercises such as a relay requiring them to swim across the pool one at a time while wearing a life jacket.

Then, they took turns diving for items dropped in the deep end of the pool.

“It was pretty fun,” 8-year-old Gentry Elmore said.

Gabrielle Harris, 11, described the session as “great.”

“It’s fun diving,” Harris said, adding that the water safety techniques she learned would help her if she were ever a lifeguard.