Free lessons offered to halt decline in kids’ swimming skills

THE City of Greater Geelong is offering free swimming lessons in an attempt to combat a decline in young children’s swimming skills.

Research from Royal Life Saving Australia (RLSA) found nearly half of Grade 6 students were unable to swim or tread water for two minutes.

Their skills are not improving in high school, with teachers estimating 39 per cent of Year 10 students still cannot reach the benchmark.

RLSA attributes the lack of skills to a recent increase in drowning, with 104 people losing their lives over the past summer – an increase of 14 per cent on the five-year average.

The city has announced anyone who enrols in Webstar’s Swim School between today (Monday, April 14) and May 4 will receive two free swimming lessons.

The swim school is operated by the City of Greater Geelong and offers 30-minute sessions with qualified instructors.

“Our beautiful city is home to spectacular coastline and other major waterways, but that brings water safety risks,” Geelong mayor Stretch Kontelj said.

“It’s so important that we all play our part to teach young people water safety, and I’m proud of the work our city’s swim instructors do every day.”

Cr Eddy Kontelj, chair of the council’s sports and recreation portfolio, encouraged parents who have been putting off teaching their kids to swim to sign up.

“Webstar’s Swim School has many members who are getting the benefits of regular lessons, but the Royal Life Saving Australia report is clear – we need to get water safety education out there even more,” he said.

For more information and to enrol in the free lessons, head to membership.geelongaustralia.com.au/WSS-2WeeksFree2025