Winter is the perfect time to get your child into swimming

Published 10 July 2022

We Swim in Winter

Oh baby it’s cold outside, but mid-winter is also the perfect time to get your child into swimming.

With swim schools bursting at the seams following the COVID-19 shutdown in much of Australia, parents are reporting falling demand over winter has allowed families to get places in classes.

Under the campaign “We Swim”, Royal Life Saving Society – Australia is encouraging families to get back into swimming lessons.

Many public aquatic facilities are either indoors or heated, keeping children toasty warm while they’re in the water and providing them with much needed protection against drowning come summer.

Royal Life Saving Chief Executive Officer Justin Scarr said drowning deaths happen all year round, including winter.

“If your children dropped out of lessons following the COVID-19 shutdowns, then now is a great time to get them back into the pool. Winter sport is ending soon, and lessons will fill up quickly towards summer,” Mr Scarr said.

“While swimming lessons can help prevent child drowning, many parents enrol their children for the lifelong benefits that swimming skills afford. Australia has so many waterways, and places for activities like surfing, kayaking or just swimming for fun and fitness.

“We know life gets very busy for families, and it is all too easy to forget to keep chasing a space in swimming lessons. So please, get onto your local swim centre and get booked in for classes today.”

Research shows that almost half of 12-year-olds can’t swim continuously for 50 metres or float for two minutes in deep water – a basic swimming and water safety benchmark.

When children learn to swim, it opens up a world of possibility. They get the opportunity to enjoy water activities and be involved in water-based sports, school camps, beach holidays, riverside camping and playing with friends and family at the pool, just to name a few.

Through swimming lessons, they learn to recognise and understand risk factors as they enter their teens and adulthood to be able to make better decisions in and around the water to keep themselves and those around them safe.

To learn more about We Swim campaign click here.