According to the Royal Life Saving Society's National Drowning Report 2016, 11 children aged between 5-14 died in Australian waterways over a 12-month period to July – this is two more than in the previous year.  Since this report was released, there have been more.

Royal Life Saving NSW's Michael Ilinsky said that there is evidence which indicates that up to 50 per cent of children who leave primary school are not able to swim.

Local swimming instructor Kristy Houlison has decided to take decisive action to help combat this lack of water education, offering a free lesson for local pool owners.

Kristy will head to your home and teach you and your children the important skills to practice to keep safe in and around water. 

Since posting about the lessons on social media, Kristy has been happy with the response from parents and caregivers.

“I have even had some people from Bathurst contact me about heading to their homes for a lesson and I’ve also had some grandparents who are pool owners contact me.”

Staff at Lithgow’s JM Robson Aquatic Centre confirmed that there has been a sharp increase in interest in workshops offered at the facility, with 25-30 registrations for their intensive swimming lessons/school carnival workshops.

The amount of different waterways in our LGA mean that it’s still crucial for parents to ensure that their children have the skills.

Lithgow City Council’s Group Manager Operations Iain Stewart said that Council may discuss the issue of water safety at the next council meeting and it may be something that they look into.

Kristy’s best advice for parents is to engage with their children in water.  “People do say supervise, supervise, but it can be very difficult to watch something 24/7,” she said.

While many parents sit on the sidelines and watch, Kristy said the best thing parents can do is to get  involved.

“Get in, play with your kids, mess around with them in the water. You’ll be teaching them skills without even knowing it.”