Although tragic disasters cannot be prevented, the risk of drowning can be reduced through learning to swim. As well as enhancing safety, swimming lessons can be great fun, a source of socialisation and a proven fitness booster! We’re always on hand should you wish to begin lessons or find out how swimming lessons can help you or your children!
Sicily Boating Disaster - Enforcing the Need for Swimming Lessons
With the devastating news unfolding about the Bayesian, a super yacht that sunk in Sicily amidst violent weather conditions, taking the lives of 6 passengers, the risk of dangerous, unexpected conditions in the water are certainly a threat.
Speaking to Giornale di Sicilia, Charlotte Golunski, a passenger of the Bayesian, described how “for two seconds, I lost the baby in the sea, then I immediately held her again in the fury of the waves” Golunski, who was holidaying on the yacht with her husband, James Emslie, and one year old daughter, Sophie, ultimately saved her young daughter’s life by holding her above the ocean whilst awaiting rescue. Although at the age of one, it is unlikely that Golunski and Emslie’s daughter can swim at all, regardless of whether she has had swimming lessons or not, let alone save herself in the most unprecedented, challenging conditions, the value of being able to swim and feel as confident as possible in water is certainly something that could have impacted her safety should she have been a few years older and found herself awaiting rescue in storm-ridden open water.
Drowning Death Rates
Drowning is the highest cause of accidental child deaths in the UK. Such fatalities can occur in as little as 2cm of water, whether it be in a bath, a puddle, a paddling pool, or a more sparse, open body of water. Therefore, a child’s ability to navigate water as confidently as possible with experience and understanding is of the utmost importance. More broadly, across the UK, there are approximately 400 lives lost to drowning per year, which equates to one fatality every 20 hours. Although learning to swim does not eradicate the risk of danger in unprecedented circumstances, such as the tragic event in Sicily, swimming lessons have been proven to decrease the risk of drowning.
How Children’s Swimming Lessons and Decreased Drowning Rates are Connected
Beginning swimming lessons at a young age increases a child’s safety skills within the water, as well as heightening their ability to navigate and move independently. This is highlighted within the work of R.A. Brenner who reported on a study in the Archives of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine in 2009, focuses on the fact that there is a corelation between children who have had swimming lessons and a decreased risk of drowning. According to Brenner, children aged between 1 and 4 who had attended swimming lessons decreased their risk of drowning by 88%. However, it must be noted that whilst this study reflects the findings of Brenner, it has been noted that his study only included a small sample size, therefore meaning his statistics may not be wholly representative of an entire cross-section of pre-school aged children.
What Swimming Lessons Can Teach Pre-School Children
On the whole, the majority of pre-school children aged between 1 and 4 will not have the cognitive ability to learn to swim lengths of a pool, as you may stereotypically imagine a swimming class. Instead, infants are more likely to become familiar with being in water and will begin to adopt basic water safety protocols, such as returning to the side of a pool so they can hold on to the wall. Ultimately, whilst this is a basic exercise, having the capability to return yourself to safety could prove to be vital should the event of being in an unprecedented situation arise.
For those who are still at a pre-school age, infant swimming lessons are less about mastering certain strokes or meeting certain times and distances but are rather about building basic skills in the water, allowing children to function safely within the water. For instance, swimming lessons for those aged between 1 and 4 are likely to teach children basic protocols such as being able to float, tread water, and navigate themselves to the side of the pool. It is these types of protocols that are the key to reducing drowning rates, where, ultimately, mastering a swimming stroke or hitting a time or distance-based goal is not going to directly affect your chances of survival in a threatening situation. It is these basic, foundational skills that children will require in the face of danger.
With 7 in 10 Brits stating that they are worried about their children’s safety whilst swimming abroad, perhaps a fear boosted by the 46% increase in child deaths caused by drowning in 2023 (when compared to the number of drownings between 2017 and 2022), these basic skills hold all the more significance.
Conclusion
Although tragic disasters cannot be prevented, the risk of drowning can be reduced through learning to swim. As well as enhancing safety, children's swimming lessons can be great fun, a source of socialisation and a proven fitness booster! We’re always on hand should you wish to begin lessons or find out how swimming lessons can help you or your children!
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