The Importance of World Drowning Prevention Day
For many families, water is where some of life's happiest memories are made. Water gives us the opportunity to relax, play and connect.
But alongside these moments of fun comes a responsibility to understand the risks.
Every year on 25th July, the World Health Organisation (WHO) leads World Drowning Prevention Day to raise awareness of drowning as a major public health issue and to encourage individuals and organisations to take action.
This campaign has one clear message: drowning is preventable.
The latest Global Strategy for Drowning Prevention highlights why this global message matters so much.
According to the WHO:
- Over 300,000 people lose their lives from drowning every year.
- One in four drownings involve a child under the age of five.
- Drowning is the 4th leading cause of death for children aged 1-4 years worldwide.
- Almost half of all drowning victims are under 29 years old.
Although sobering, these figures also tell a more hopeful story.
Unlike many other causes of accidental death, drowning is one of the most preventable. The WHO identifies a range of proven interventions that save lives, including teaching swimming and water safety skills, ensuring children are properly supervised around water, improving access to safe swimming environments, and raising awareness.
Progress Is Possible
There is encouraging news.
Global efforts to improve water safety are making real differences. Since 2000, the global drowning rate has fallen by 38%. This shows that education, investment, and community action genuinely save lives. The new Global Strategy now sets an ambitious goal of reducing drowning deaths by a further 35% by 2035.
Why This Matters to Swimtime
Although many of these statistics reflect the global picture, the message is just as important for families here in the UK.
Children encounter water in many different settings:
- Swimming pools
- Beaches
- Rivers and lakes
- Holiday resorts
- Water parks
- Kayaking and other watersports
Every new experience brings excitement, but also reinforces why children need the skills and confidence to stay safe around water.
At Swimtime, we believe swimming lessons should never be viewed as simply another extracurricular activity. Every lesson is an opportunity to build confidence, develop practical life skills, and teach children how to react calmly and safely in the water.
Our goal isn't simply to help children swim further or faster. It's to help create a generation who understand water, respect it, and feel confident enough to enjoy it safely throughout their lives.
We're proud to support World Drowning Prevention Day. By sharing knowledge, encouraging families to prioritise swimming lessons and talking openly about water safety, we can all play a part in preventing avoidable tragedies and helping more children enjoy the water with confidence.
Learning To Swim Is A Lifeline
When parents enroll their child in swimming lessons, they're often thinking about the immediate benefits. They want their child to become more confident, learn an important life skill, or simply enjoy being active.
These are all fantastic reasons to learn to swim.
But swimming lessons offer something even more valuable. They help children develop the skills and awareness that could one day save their life.
The WHO identifies teaching swimming, water safety, and self-rescue skills as one of the ten priority interventions needed to reduce drowning across the world. Despite this, the latest global report found that only 22% of countries currently provide swimming and water safety training through school curricula or national programmes, meaning millions of children still grow up without access to these life-saving skills.
This is why every Swimtime lesson matters
Our lessons are designed to do much more than teach children how to move through the water. We help them become more comfortable in different situations, understand how water behaves, and build the confidence to make sensible decisions whenever they're around it.
Swimming lessons teach far more than you think
For many children, learning to swim is one of the first activities that challenges them physically and mentally at the same time.
Progress doesn't always happen overnight.
There are moments when putting their face underwater feels daunting. Floating independently can seem impossible. Swimming without support can take determination and patience.
Every small achievement helps children grow. Not just as swimmers, but as confident young people.
Through regular lessons, children develop:
- Water confidence
- Self-belief
- Resilience
- Physical fitness
- Listening and concentration skills
- Respect for water and its potential risks
These are all qualities that stay with them long after they've earned their next award.
Water Confidence Begins Before Children Can Swim Independently
One of the biggest misconceptions is that children only become safer around water once they can swim several lengths.
In reality, water safety begins much earlier.
Confidence develops gradually through positive experiences, expert guidance, and practicing essential skills over time. Our Swimtime teachers see this progression everyday.
Children first learn how to:
- Enter and exit the pool safely
- Control their breathing
- Float with support and eventually independently
- Stay calm if they lose their footing
- Follow instructions
- Move confidently through the water
These building blocks create a strong foundation for more advanced swimming skills while helping our swimmers feel relaxed rather than fearful.
Water safety is about knowledge as well as ability
Being able to swim is incredibly important, but swimming ability alone doesn't prevent every accident.
Swimmers also need to understand how to behave around different types of water and recognise situations that may be dangerous.
That's why water safety education plays such an important role alongside swimming lessons.
Simple messages can make a huge difference, including:
- Never entering the water without an adult's permission
- Understanding that rivers, lakes and the sea behave differently to swimming pools
- Never swimming alone
- Listening to lifeguards and following safety signs
- Wearing appropriate buoyancy aids when taking part in water sports or boating
These all become habits when they are introduced from an early age and reinforced over time.
The role parents play in drowning prevention
Our swimming teachers have an important role to play, but preventing drowning starts long before children arrive for their weekly lesson.
Parents and carers remain the single biggest influence on a child's safety around water.
The WHO's global strategy identifies constant supervision as one of the most effective ways to prevent drowning, particularly for younger children. Yet globally, fewer than three in ten countries have national daycare or supervised childcare programmes designed to reduce drowning risk, highlighting just how important active supervision remains.
Whether you're at your local pool or enjoying a family holiday abroad, there are some simple habits that every family can adopt.
Five simple ways to keep children safer around water
- Stay within arm's reach of young children whenever they're in or near water
- Avoid distractions, including mobile phones, when supervising children
- Choose lifeguarded swimming areas whenever possible and always follow local advice
- Encourage children to continue swimming lessons, even after they can swim independently
- Talk regularly about water safety
These actions may sound simple, but together they make a significant difference.
Why Swimtime Is Proud to Support World Drowning Prevention Day
Everyday, up and down the country, we're fortunate to see first-hand how learning to swim changes lives.
Each week, our teachers celebrate the little moments that parents often remember forever.
The child who finally let go of the poolside.
The nervous beginner who smiles after putting their face underwater for the first time.
The child who confidently swims their first full length.
These milestones aren't just about learning a sport. They're about building confidence that extends far beyond the pool.
As the World Health Organisation continues its global ambition to reduce drownings, organisations like Swimtime have an important role to play. Every lesson delivered, every child who becomes more water confident, and every family who learns more about water safety contributes towards that shared goal.
We're using today to encourage families to not only celebrate swimming, but recognise it for what it truly is - one of the most valuable life skills any child can learn.
