Does the ability to swim keep my child safe around open water?

ARTICLE

It is no surprise to many that, as an island nation, we have long recognized the lifesaving importance of children and adults being able to swim. Most can also appreciate that a person who can swim can still drown for a multitude of reasons; alcohol or substance intoxication, the effects of cold water and strong currents, or medical events that result in a loss of consciousness, to name a few. Learning to swim is the first step but is it sufficient to keep you safe in and around open water?

A question that has perturbed researchers for several decades is whether teaching children to swim alleviates some risks whilst heightening others. Take the example of an 18-year-old celebrating their A-Level results by the local river or canal who, in a heightened state of celebration having overcome great obstacles in their education, challenges a friend to conquer the obstacle in front of them and swim to the far bank. Most 18-year-olds in the UK ceased swimming lessons almost a decade ago, aside from the odd 30-minute “dip” for school PE lessons.

But a river is not like a swimming pool, and an 18-year-old does not have the body they had when they were eight. The mechanics of swimming change as our bodies age, with our longer limbs, wider and heavier frames and change in buoyancy. Our memory of getting that 25 or 50-metre badge when we were young children, is now a hazy memory. Surely if we could swim like that when we were eight, now at 18 years old, it has got to be easier, right?

For many teenagers and young adults, hazy memories of childhood swimming and a dose of youthful optimism with respect to our swim ability lead many “swimmers” to voluntarily enter our lakes, rivers, quarries, canals, and the sea. We know that for a multitude of biological, psychological, and socio-cultural factors, it is all too often teenage boys and young men who are most likely to enter open water (UK WIRH, 2022), but a not insignificant number of women and older adults also overestimate their ability and underestimate the dangers of open and coastal water (UK WIRH, 2022). 

For those who did not learn to swim, most know their limits and remain on the banks, but not all. Most years, there are cases of non-swimmers voluntarily jumping into quarries or wading into lakes and rivers (UK WIRH, 2022). Why you may ask? More research is needed to understand this phenomenon, but our best estimate is that it occurs because of a mixture of hazy memories about swim ability, youthful underestimation of risk, and in some cases, the presence of peer pressure (UK WIRH, 2022). What we can take from these incidents? Water safety must be taught, and it is not innate or akin to “common” sense; it is nuanced, situationally dependent, and often requires judgement to be exercised in situations of extreme urgency.

For those who are cautious and remain on the banks or beach to watch friends swim from a distance, the risk of being drawn in to perform a rescue remains. Every year, children and adults are drawn into the water to save the lives of others. Unfortunately, incidents involving the drowning of both the primary casualty and the rescuer are an annual occurrence in the UK (UK WIRH, 2022). All too often, the rescuer reaches the casualty only for both to take a fatal hold over the other and to drown side by side (This phenomenon is referred to by the sector as “locked swimmers”). Well-meaning citizens, family members, and children, often posthumously recognized for their heroic efforts, enter the water and never return.

And what of those who can swim and have been trained in water safety skills? Are they the aspiration we should have for our children? In short, yes. Whilst data on water safety knowledge and skills for those involved in water incidents is scarce globally, and we know from accounts of rescuers and primary victims that their water safety and swim training maturity often exceed the average for victims (UK WIRH, 2022). We also know that incident rates of pool and beach lifeguard drownings are extremely low (UK WIRH, 2022).

What we can hope for our children is that they have the survival, rescue, and self-rescue skills to preserve their own life and, where possible, that of others, whether they may enter the water voluntarily or otherwise. It would be amiss to overlook the sizeable proportion of adults and children who enter lakes, rivers, canals, quarries, harbours, and the sea unintentionally and for whom survival and self-rescue are the difference between life and death in the absence of bystanders (UK WIRH, 2022). 

So, what advice should parents, professionals and policymakers take from our current understanding of open water drownings in the UK? Three things are key:

1. Water and swim safety must be taught if it is to protect a child from harm. Ensure your child knows the hazards of open water, how to stay safe, and how to help others safely. Being able to swim is a start, but it is not sufficient. Ask how well your child can swim as swim ability is not binary.
2. Know how to survive in open water. Programmes like Float to Live are as vital as knowing how to swim to safety. Strong currents often disable the most capable swimmers and professionals.
3. Knowing how best to help sometimes involves not entering the water. Calling 999 or throwing an aid to keep someone afloat may buy time for a rescue to be performed safely. If you do enter the water, take an aid and keep your distance from the casualty.

References

UK WIRH. 2022. In a sample of 112 open water incidents collated and analysed by the UK Water Incident Research Hub, men aged 10-24 years constituted 53.8% (50) of incidents involving males (93) between 2011-2020.

UK WIRH. 2022. Women aged 10-24 constituted 36.8% (7) of incidents involving females (19) between 2011-2020. 17% (20) of incidents (112) involved a person aged over 40 years old.

UK WIRH. 2022. In a sample of 30 open water incidents involving non-swimmers collated and analysed by the UK Water Incident Research Hub, 20% (6) involved a non-swimmer who jumped into open water despite being unable to swim. 33% (10) saw a non-swimmer wade out of their depth, and 46% (14) saw a non-swimmer fall into deep water.

UK WIRH. 2022. Peer pressure is difficult to ascertain using media analysis, but outside of official reports, it is the only source of evidence capable of identifying its involvement. Peer pressure was only able to be identified in less than 2% (2) incidents. A larger sample size is needed to assess the role that peer pressure plays in open water drownings, particularly amongst young people.

UK WIRH. 2022. In a sample of 112 open water incidents, the UK Water Incident Research Hub was able to identify that the person who initiated a rescue of a casualty was someone known to them in 60.7% of cases. The rescuer was unable to rescue the casualty in 48.2% (54) of cases, required rescue by another person in 20.5% (23) of cases, and died whilst performing the rescue in 17.8% (20) of cases.

UK WIRH. 2022. In a sample of 112 open water incidents, the UK Water Incident Research Hub was able to identify 3.5% (4) incidents that were witnessed or involved a rescuer who could not swim. There was evidence to show that 45.5% (51) of rescuers could swim.

UK WIRH. 2022. In a sample of 260 incidents across all bodies of water, the UK Water Incident Research Hub identified less than 1% (2) of incidents involved a professional lifesaver or lifeguard getting into difficulty when performing a rescue.    

UK WIRH. 2022. In a sample of 112 open water incidents, the UK Water Incident Research Hub was able to identify that the casualty entered the water when alone in 12.5% (14) of cases. 

Citation: Jacklin, D. 2022. Does the ability to swim keep my child safe around open water? Water Incident Research Hub, 1 July.