Children drowning on holiday.

This has really always been the case, I think social media/internet makes us more aware of it happening across the whole nation/world. But teenagers drowning in summer is something that happens every year if you'd go through the records and archives of local newspapers, and will keep on happening. We talk more and more about water safety now, yet community pools keep closing, summers are getting hotter and there's more people around, so the drowning numbers will remain stubborn.

I feel one aspect that doesn't get considered is thousands of teenagers swim in rivers, lakes, beaches etc with their mates and no adults every single summer, and those who don't likely know someone who does. So while the couple who drown every year is an absolute tragic event for everyone involved, it doesn't have a great deal of impact on teenagers as they know most are okay. It's really not any different to driving, the number of folks who die in car crashes/accidents are horrific, we we still drive.

I'm not trying to act as if water safety isn't important, it absolutely is! But the sort of endless alarmist of "if you swim you will drown" will go in and out of the ears of preteens/teens and young adults as it doesn't really align with their own realities often.

This is why I'm a big fan of education that is around being realistic, environment awareness, and how to approach things safely rather than a total abstinence approach (which historically will never work).

The one and only time we went on holiday with dh uni friends, we stayed at a villa/private complex thing with a pool in a big group.

me and dh were constantly taken the piss out of for being “over protective” around the pool. All the other parents were happy to get pissed and leave the kids to it. They would fuck off to other parts of the grounds and just leave them.

What happened was, me and dh took it in turns, or together, to be responsible for 10 children under the age of 8/9 in a pool. We wanted to take our ds out and go exploring but we felt kind of stuck, one else gave a shit.

I was ready to pack up and go and find our own hotel after the first two days, but dh said he couldn’t have it on his conscience if something happened to one of the children while his mates were pissed and begged me to stay with him, he didn’t want to be the sole responsible one as it was knackering enough with two of us.

I’ve never gone on holiday in a group with anyone other than my in-laws again due to that.

In June, during a lesson to my scouts on heat injury I said "every year, when the heat wave comes, somewhere in Britain a 15 year old boy will drown whilst wild swimming with his mates." The next week the heatwave arrived, and the next day the news story was about a 15 year old boy in Scotland drowning. I felt so sad to have predicted it.

Has there been a heatwave in recent years which hasn't had a 15 year old boy drown?
It isn't just toddlers in holiday pools.

have there been more incidents this summer or am I just noticing them more? Just seems to be so many news stories recently :(

This isnt a criticism of schools, but of schools funding and changes to the curriculum before anyone pounces!

I usually disagree that schools should pick up the responsibility of teaching all general life skills to children, but as we live on a small island which is surrounded by water that also has an array of waterways, swimming lessons should still be done every year throughout primary at least and water safely should still be built into the circiculum. Again, understand this wasn't a decision to remove it made by schools themselves or teachers, and that there isnt funding nor timing as it stands to reintroduce this.

As well as children knowing how to swim and how to react in different scenarios, a lot of adults dont have any clue either which makes supervising and setting reasonable boundaries to keep their children safe challenging.

And also they don't think like a lifeguard. In the most recent tragedy, the shorebased parent had left the shore, no doubt assuming that with the other parent in the water, they would be able to keep the children supervised and safe. And by leaving the shoreline, they left their overwatch position and so wouldn't have been able to see warning signs of currents and then distress.

Whenever children are in unpredictable water, there needs to be shorebased supervision in that overwatch position monitoring them, the tides, current, hazards etc. That is much safer than having another adult in the water, who can't perform a proper lookout.

People go on vacation and they're in vacation mode. That's the problem. They think they're alone.

So that means, they're chilling, relaxing etc and not watching the rampant toddler 100% of the time.

I thought people might be interested in these courses: https://swimsafe.org.uk/

My kids are booked to do it at the weekend.

In the latest accident, the yellow warning flags were ignored.

I still won't go anywhere near electricity substations or lakes (dark water) as they terrify me 🤣

When I was younger I had to rescue my younger sister who was stuck in a rapids type section of the pool and was struggling. To stay afloat. It scared me so much (I was about 11 years old). My sister was a confident swimmer, we had always gone swimming but she just misjudged how strong that current was. As a result I have never taken my eyes of my kids. Even if my husband would say he would watch them I still wouldn't lose sight of them. It can happen so quickly.

I used to be a lifeguard. All my rescues were in swimming lessons in shallow water. Many non-swimmers do not understand how to get themselves from horizontal to vertical - I'm not sure why. And yes, as many PPs have said, drowning is silent.

Also, do not think that because your child has a jacket or armbands that they will be safe. I have seen them deflate and I have also seen children taking them off when their parents' backs are turned. I have also seen one of those rings that babies sit in be accidentally turned upside down by passing swimmers.

Perhaps it was easier when I had sole responsibility.

I found that with family parties - everyone watching means no-one was - so I found IL vsist exhausting watch all three kids constantly and nonimating one person to do so when I couldnlt ie toilet breaks and cutting though any well we're all watching bullshit.

Having said that things can happen really quickly - and I'm not confidnet I'd recongise drowning - so they've only swam in pools with lif guards and in sea more paddled rather than swam. Also been told how many people drown in bodies of water not pools so they are aware - they can swim have has lessons but are aware that may not be enough.

i find the swim suit in sea post very interesting.

If I were a grieving parent, the worst would have already have happened, and I'd know how much I was responsible and already be guilty.

But there are plenty of living children who are alive because threads like this share helpful information - like swimsuit colours.

You can't prevent every risk, but increased awareness helps.

It’s not just pools. I’m on a cruise currently, it’s not a family friendly ship but the line does allow children and there are more of them on board this cruise than is usual. We were standing on the wharf waiting to go on an excursion. I heard shouts, there was a little girl running full tilt towards the gap between the edge of the wharf and the ship. Her father only just got to her in time and at the same time as a crew member. I shudder to think what could have happened.

Sorry but this thread sits really badly with me and is goady and victim blaming. Accidents can and do happen every day and no one knows the circumstances of any of these tragedies. Many people keep mentioning alcohol as if thats to blane aswell without knowing anything.
imagine if you were a grieving parent reading this.

Another awful tragedy in Spain - two British children (11 and 13) drown
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/30/two-british-brothers-11-and-13-drown-off-beach-in-spain

"A British brother and sister, aged 11 and 13, have drowned after getting into difficulties while swimming at Salou, a popular Mediterranean resort in north-eastern Spain. Their father, who ran into the sea to rescue them, survived."

Putting drowning prevention into Google or your preferred search engine will bring up loads of resources but I think it's helpful also to be aware that drowning is often a very quiet and calm thing and not at all how it's portrayed (splashing / yelling) in films. If you or your children are going to be near water please read "Drowning doesn't look like drowning".

This article (Guardian Australia 2023) is also a good read "Australia’s drowning crisis: why rescuers often perish trying to save family members" - the advice is obviously to call for help first but if attempting a rescue to take something (anything, even an empty 2L bottle or anything with air in) that will act as a flotation device.

Safe holidays :)
Jo

To post again on this thread, I recently watched my 7yo son beginning to drown without realising what was happening. The lifeguard did and came over and intervened, and I grabbed my son and moved him to the side of the pool (I was within a couple of metres of him at all times). I honestly hadn't realised he was in trouble. It sounds really stupid, but he had been messing about and diving for sinkers, and I assumed that was what he was still doing. There was no yelling or shouting (no noise at all really) but he told me afterwards that he'd been in trouble and struggling. I assume I would have noticed at the moment he went under the water, but maybe not as that's what he'd been doing the whole time we'd been in the pool. I was quite shaken up as I consider myself an anxious and cautious parent when it comes to pools and water.

I remember being at a havan holiday park,8 months pregnant (and let's face it-i was the size of a blue whale) and I turned my back for a second (I was dumping some bags on a chair)
Ds (then aged about 8) came up behind me and slipped in (fully clothed)
Thankfully the lifeguard just came out of nowhere,before I had a chance to see what was going on and got him out
I'd made sure all my dc where good swimmers but he panicked and froze
(I was that mother who wouldn't let them near water without aids and me standing almost on top of them)
Floods of tears from us both but he was fine

Most heart-stopping moment of my life-a second,that's all it took

We say EXACTLY the same when watching A Place in the sun and they come out with the 'you can see the grandkids/kids playing in the pool' from some 3rd fllor balcony or whatever. I always say "The ONLY place to be in your children/grandchildren are playing in a pool is RIGHT beside them!"

Thank you for sharing this. It is horrendous for you, but important people realise how easy it is for a child to drown. You shouldn't feel guilty, but we should all learn from it. My step father pulled a boy out of the swimming pool in similar circumstances whilst on holiday and he said the mother was quite off with him about it! Assume you were not like that at all, and you had tried to be careful. As parent I think we all have one but for the grace of god story.

This week is Drowning Prevention Week (14-21 June 2025) and there are some free resources for parents / classrooms from the Royal Life Saving Society UK https://www.rlss.org.uk/pages/category/drowning-prevention-week-campaign.

There's also a colouring-in competition (to win one of 100 limited edition pin badges) for children 13 and under, competition closes 30 June 2025 https://www.rlss.org.uk/colouring-competition

Jo

I see women do the same risky things many times every day! They’re stuck to their phones, babbling gossip that could wait till they’re home, toddler wandering way behind them or running in front of them. There’s no way they’d be able to be aware of and stop that child from running into the road, be bitten by a dog or abducted. It makes me mad that they’re so stupid as to risk the lives of their children in this way!

DS was never in a pool or the sea without me or OH in with him up to the age of about 12!!! He was a good swimmer, probably better than us, as he'd started lessons before he started primary school, but we weren't taking any risks.

It never ceases to amaze me how parents just sit and chill on the poolside/beach, reading books, etc., completely oblivious to what their children are doing.

On the "Place in the sun" program, parents/grandparents often say something like the pool is handy and you could see the kids from your 3rd floor balcony! What use is that? By the time you've noticed they're in difficulty, you have to go down the corridors, down the stairs, and out to the pool, by which time it's too late.

Far too many people just don't have any concept of risk and how to manage it.

Human beings are not good at weighing risks, even when they know the facts. We often take our cue about risk from what others do, and we are especially poor at weighing risks if we have competing concerns.

I do an "ice breaker" in cyber security sessions, asking people to give what is basically very common password data over. Everyone does it!

Some even say they weren't certain about doing it, but went along!