Alarming: 630,000 Non-Swimmers in Austria

Additionally, 137,000 children and adolescents aged five to 19 have no swimming skills. Particularly among eleven and twelve-year-olds, there is a slight further deterioration to a nine percent non-swimmer rate compared to previous years.

Children's Swimming Skills Declining

As a recent survey by the KFV's Department of Sports and Leisure Safety shows, ten to fourteen-year-olds overall have poorer swimming skills than in previous years. What was missed during the pandemic with canceled swimming courses has noticeable consequences. The KFV warns of the consequences, particularly emphasizing the need to be aware of this current risk for the age group. In addition, there are around 76,000 children and adolescents who can only swim insecurely, according to the release.

Lack of school swimming lessons, inadequate infrastructure, and little family swimming experience are among the main reasons for the insufficient swimming skills of many children: 17 percent of parents stated that their offspring did not receive swimming lessons at school. The proportion of families without access to swimming pools or lakes has also increased - from seven percent last year to ten percent this year.

School Swimming as a Solution

"The pandemic has exacerbated the problem, but even today we see a lot of potential for improvement in low-threshold access to the survival skill of swimming. Regular practice and refreshing of swimming skills are essential," explained Johanna Trauner-Karner, Head of the Sports and Leisure Safety Department at KFV.

"Our study highlights once again that among people with poorer income conditions, the proportion of insecure to mediocre swimmers and non-swimmers is particularly high. To counteract this, we call for an intensification of swimming lessons in schools and the parallel expansion of subsidized swimming courses in leisure time," emphasized Trauner-Karner.

As the cause of death statistics from Statistics Austria show, a total of 333 residents in Austria drowned in lakes, swimming pools, and pools from 2014 to 2023, including 34 children and adolescents aged five to 19.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.