I don’t know how many on here will remember but we used to have those very scary public information things when I was a kid - I’m 60 - a playing on a railway one stuck with me and I’m sure there was one about water, though it’s not a sea one floating in my mind.
A 14 year old died in my daughter’s year after dive bombing into a quarry full of water - this I think due to chemicals or could have been cold or a mix. Common place for folk to go swimming even though dangerous.
We need more information out there for sure - maybe scary adverts need bringing back and spreading more widely.
I learned to swim not in school, 2 of my kids learned just in school and 2 at a swim club and school. Not one of us would be ok with any issue such as riptides, unexpected currents, massive waves but at least we are all aware of that I guess.
One of my daughters had my 12ish year old grandson well in both their depths, both able to swim and she’s not a bad swimmer at all. Anyway, just messing in waves when one just took them off their feet and threw them full in the sea - they were fine but scared.
Some of these terrible incidents can be avoided with education (not just in school) I think.