Swimming is our national pastime, but as the cost of living continues to surge some regional children aren't learning how to swim. Now a free program in north Queensland is giving rural kids a chance to learn water safety skills in the hopes of reducing the drowning rate.
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00:00Learning to swim is a rite of passage for most Australian children, but as family budgets
00:08tighten, some are having to go without.
00:11It is very expensive and because I have three kids, that will multiply.
00:18For this group, the lessons are free, gifted by Charters Towers Business.
00:23I've got a young daughter myself, a two year old, she just loves water and I think every
00:27kid should just be able to enjoy hopping in the water and be confident in the water.
00:31So we came up with a two day intensive swim class which is 30 minutes a lesson and we
00:37were able to put that together and then put it out to the community.
00:41For these country kids, the program's not just about teaching them to swim in the local
00:45pool, it's about giving them vital life lessons which could prevent a tragedy in a river,
00:50creek or dam.
00:51To teach people safely to come back to an edge or safely get out or float and actually
00:56look at their surroundings, don't just jump into somewhere you don't know.
01:01These are all part of education for water safety.
01:03It's made new swimmers more comfortable in the water.
01:06Especially my bub, the little two year old, she was so scared but by the end of it, she
01:11was so confident.
01:13Swimming Queensland wishes free lessons could be implemented nationwide to curb the rate
01:18of drowning, which occurs at a higher rate in regional towns.
01:22We're not going to make them into Olympic swimmers or anything like that, but we're
01:27going to actually get them so they're at least going to be able to save themselves in the
01:32water.
01:33If it saves one life, it's been more than important and worthwhile.