Don’t let your child drown! Good advice and alarming statistics

Water kills every year. It doesn’t take a flood, storm or tsunami for disaster to strike – unfortunately, the victims are often the youngest. All it takes is a moment of inattention, overconfidence or a sudden change in conditions for drowning to occur. To fully enjoy the delights of holiday swimming, we must learn to anticipate the worst.

Water – an element still underestimated

No one who goes to the water in the summer expects not to return from a trip. We think it’s just an innocent swim and nothing bad can happen to us. However, many people do not return.

Police statistics show that 444 people drowned in 2024. Among the victims were four children under 14 and as many as 23 teenagers aged 15-18. This is far too many. The highest number of deaths was among seniors – as many as 215 victims were over the age of 50. This year, police have already recorded 31 drownings in June and 28 in the first half of July.

Which swimming areas are the most dangerous? Police data shows that drownings are most common in places that are not guarded, but where swimming is allowed. A false sense of security is unfortunately proving treacherous. It is worth mentioning that as many as 37 people drowned last year while bathing in a prohibited place.

From the perspective of bathing locations, rivers prove to be particularly dangerous, with as many as 121 drownings reported in 2024. Experts point primarily to strong currents, which can surprise even the best swimmers. Drownings in lakes are also relatively frequent (112), and paradoxically the Baltic Sea is the safest… or best protected (18 cases) in this regard.

Caution is never worth parting with, especially in summer. That’s why we’re reminding good advice from our editor Leszek Naziemc, coordinator of the nationwide educational campaign Swim Patrol, in which volunteers conduct short swimming lessons at bathing beaches. These simple rules can significantly increase the safety of the youngest and reduce the risk of tragic incidents on the water.

(Full publication: Leszek Naziemiec, How I can colder the risk of my child drowning)

How to avoid drowning – some practical tips

1. As an adult, I can learn to swim and constantly improve my skills. It is important to be able to realistically assess your abilities. The child of a swimming parent naturally learns good habits in the water. If I go to the beach with my child and I don’t know how to swim, I am putting my child in danger. In the past, the view was repeated that adults have limited opportunities to acquire swimming skills. Nowadays, there are numerous schools focusing specifically on them. A whole methodology of teaching swimming at a later age has also been developed.
   
2. Young children need time to play in the coastal area. There are times when a child has no contact with water for the first years of life, and then he or she is put on a swimming course. Early contact with water means that the child does not develop a fear of the element. Learning to swim is a long process. You should set yourself up for several years of perfecting the ability to control your body in the water. Infants often present patterns of automatic swimming, and can also reflexively hold their breath below the surface. These are reactions that fade over time if the child is not in contact with water. Reflex swimming patterns are not conscious swimming styles. These are learned from about 4-5 years of age. It is not worth putting a lot of pressure on learning styles during this period.
   
3. It is important that the child learns to drift, that is, to float freely on the water, without too much effort. The second important skill is diving. Dipping one’s head effortlessly makes a real difference in safety. It is also worth learning a simple method of propelling oneself in the water at the beginning, so that one knows how to swim a short distance. A child who goes to elementary school should be equipped with such skills. You can also think about playing in the water with clothes on, since we are usually clothed in critical situations. When swimming with clothes on, we will notice that it usually gives us extra buoyancy and we are warmer. Slow swimming movements in such a situation are possible and can be economical. They only require training.
   
4. Let’s provide a child playing in the water with a swimming board, which is attached to the hips with a strap. The person playing in the water can grab onto the board and regain a sense of security, and we can see where he or she is. Another option is to use an inflatable swimming buoy or even a plastic soda bottle, tied with a strap to the hips. It is important that it can be easily untied, in case the strap gets tangled. The hip strap can be provided with a plastic snap. Playing in the water with a tied board is safer than without. It is difficult to understand why this method is not widely used, although it must be admitted that it is slowly being adopted on Polish beaches. Inflatable wheel and sleeves do not provide much opportunity to build body awareness in the water. Instead, they can become a cause of trouble.
   
5. Let’s remember that at a guarded swimming area, we are still responsible for our child. A lifeguard may not notice that someone is drowning. He may then help another person. Let’s do an experiment. Standing in a guarded bathing area, let’s try to observe all bathers at the same time. This is practically impossible. Let’s think of the lifeguard rather as a person who can give us support when our child is drowning, but it is we who must be ready to help.
   
6. Being on a boat, we wear a life jacket. Imagine that someone falls overboard. Is he able to climb aboard on his own? Do I have a strategy for picking him up from the water? Climbing into the boat, climbing out of the water onto the quay wall, using the rope and ladder are skills we can improve. What good is knowing how to swim if we can’t get out of the water? Sitting on a boat on a cold day can numb our legs and arms. If we fall overboard, it’s difficult to move because of it.
   
7. Let the child also play in cool water. This experience will ensure that he won’t panic if he falls into one. Stays in cool water can be short. Two minutes in 16-18°C water on a sunny day should do no harm. The child can experience cool water at home, too. Let’s use short, rather strong thermal stimuli, rather than prolonged cooling.
   
8. Let’s teach first aid procedures. This knowledge should be refreshed from time to time. Even experienced rescuers do this.
   
9. Let’s teach calmness and control of emotions in the water. If a child gets swallowed up, let’s not build a narrative about drowning. Let’s not scare people with water. Some drownings are due to panic, during which the threatened person forgets that he or she can stay afloat.
   
10. Let’s build knowledge about the real dangers in the water and dispel harmful myths. For example, it is commonly believed that when a whirlpool appears, one should dive. We overcome small river eddies by swimming on the surface. If we dive into them, we lose our orientation in space and may hit the obstacle that creates the swirl.

Let’s remember that anyone can drown – a child under the care of both parents, an excellent swimmer and a bathers splashing safely by the shore. Water is not worth being afraid of, but it should be respected and treated with the utmost suspicion. In turn, the best way to make friends with it is through swimming lessons, which are useful at any age.