Children take part in Swim Safe at Royal Docks for World Drowning Prevention Day
Children came together at the iconic Royal Docks to learn water safety survival skills in an RNLI and Swim England session
Today, on World Drowning Prevention Day (25 July), a group of children aged between 7 and 14 came together at the Royal Docks in London to take part in a Swim Safe session, created by the RNLI and Swim England. The sessions, delivered by Love Open Water and the Royal Docks, have given local young people a vital opportunity to practice water safety skills like ‘Float to Live’ in outdoors water.
With children on school holidays and the weather remaining warm across the country, practising these lifesaving skills is more important than ever. The coast and open water sites across the country are expected to get very busy over the coming weeks.
Recently released data also reveals that young people are the most high-risk group for accidental drowning in the UK. According to the Water Incident Database (WAID), more than a quarter (26 per cent) of all accidental drowning deaths that occurred in the last five years (2020 to 2024 inclusive) were young people aged 10 to 29.[1]
Guy Addington, Regional Water Safety Lead said: ‘It was great to see this group of children come together on World Drowning Prevention Day at the Royal Docks for a Swim Safe session run by the RNLI and Swim England and facilitated by Love Open Water.
‘The session teaches children vital skills, including how to float, a proven lifesaving technique. Instinctively, most people who find themselves struggling in the water begin to panic, swim, or thrash about. We’re urging people to ignore this instinct and remember that if you get into trouble in the water, Float to Live.
‘On World Drowning Prevention Day, we want everyone to go out and ‘Find Your Float’ by practising floating at a safe location. Events are being run across the country to help people get involved.’
Ashley Jones, Water Safety and Drowning Prevention Manager at Swim England says: ‘We were delighted to see the children taking part in today’s Swim Safe session at the Royal Docks on World Drowning Prevention Day. Learning about how stay safe in, on and around the water as well as being able to perform survival swimming techniques such as Float to Live could mean the difference between life and death for anyone who gets into trouble in the water.
‘Our Swim Safe sessions are designed to equip children with lifesaving skills and so far, more than 200,000 children have completed a session since it was established in 2013.’
To Float to Live:
· Tilt your head back, with your ears submerged
· Relax and try to breathe normally
· Move your hands and feet to help you stay afloat
· It’s fine if your legs sink, we all float differently
· Practise floating in a local pool if you can
If you see someone else struggling in water
· Call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard
· Tell the person to relax and float on their back
· Throw something buoyant to help them stay afloat
The Swim Safe session, hosted at the Royal Docks, is delivered by Love Open Water and teaches children how to stay safe in and around open water. It focuses on where it's safe to swim, how to float and what to do if you get into trouble in the water.
The free, hour-long sessions are led by trained instructors and held during the summer months at outdoor water locations across the UK, including beaches and inland sites. Children aged between 7 and 14 can take part and so far, more than 150,000 children have been taught vital lifesaving skills since it was established in 2013.
The ‘Float to Live’ technique has helped save many lives. Julie from Portsmouth used this skill when she got into trouble in the water.
On a sunny, calm day, keen swimmer Julie planned to go for a sea swim near South Parade Pier in Portsmouth. The sea was calm, and flat, but unknown to Julie, there was a dangerous rip current that wasn’t visible.
Julie said: ‘When I went in the water, it was all flat, but underneath, there was a rip current. After I swam out, I could feel the rip current pulling me down.
‘I was thrashing in the water. I looked up, and thought to myself, am I going to die. I couldn’t touch the bottom, I was out of my depth, and it pulled me out, but then the RNLI’s Float to Live advice came into my head. I floated like a starfish, and I floated to the top. I was able to swim back to the beach and get back to safety.
‘Floating saved my life, and without the RNLI’s Float to Live advice, I probably wouldn’t have heard about it. I share the advice with everyone I know.’
To mark World Drowning Prevention Day, the National Water Safety Forum (NWSF) are asking people to ‘Find Your Float’, with events being held across the country for people to practise floating. Find out more here: respectthewater.com
[1] Annual reports and data | National Water Safety Forum
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