Water everywhere but fewer of us can swim

Water-safety experts are predicting more youth drownings this summer as school pool closures increase and the cost of lessons bite.
And, as children flock to beaches these school holidays, Bay principals say it is a worry so many youngsters cannot swim.
Water Safety New Zealand general manager Matt Claridge said New Zealand could expect 150 to 180 fatalities from drowning this year. The country already has one of the worst drowning rates in the world _ 96 people died in 2008.
Last year is only the second year since records began in 1980 that the national drowning toll has been less than 100. During the holiday period, which ended yesterday, 10 people drowned.
New research shows the level of pupils' water skills are falling.
A quarter of Year 6 pupils are not able to swim 25m or tread water.
Schools that don't have swimming programmes mean parents have to look to private coaches, who are often overrun by demand.
Ian Leckie, principal of Tahatai Coast School in Papamoa and national vice-president of teachers' union NZEI, said the reality was that pools were too expensive for schools to service, run and maintain.
On top of this, there were OSH requirements and staffing issues.
For those schools that did not have a pool _ like Tahatai Coast _ there was little alternative to assist kids with swimming, he said.
"What are the options? That's when council come in but [their] facilities are expensive, along with the instructors,' he said.
Tahatai Coast School hasn't offered swimming lessons in two years because they couldn't get enough parents to enrol children, Mr Leckie said. It was no longer viable to take students by bus to Mount Maunganui's Baywave pools.
While swimming was in the curriculum under physical education and health, it was not compulsory.
Tahatai Coast School ran beach safety programmes and encouraged parents to enrol their child in swimming instruction or the Nippers programme. But often swimming was sacrificed as parents struggled with the costs of uniforms, stationery and camps.
Greenpark School principal Graeme Lind agreed the swimming capability of children was affected by affordability issues.
At holiday time, when the sun was shining and children were at the beach, it was "always a worry something could happen", he said.
Schools did their best but limited time, cost and facilities available made it difficult.
Greenpark Primary children use the Greerton pools for lessons and receive a ``fair deal' from Tauranga City Council for pool charges but half a dozen other schools also used the same pools, he said.
"Ours is limited to a two-week block every year and our kids have been swimming in the middle of winter [due to availability] which isn't the best."
This year, children in the schools programme will pay $1.10 per swim at the Greerton, Otumoetai and Memorial pools and $2.20 a swim at Baywave. Costs increase by around $1 if schools want to be part of the Learn to Swim programme, which gives them a qualified instructor.
Mr Lind said he would love to see some funding offered to Tauranga school children, like that offered through a funding service in Manukau, which made lessons free.
"It is very difficult. We live in a lovely part of New Zealand with nice beaches and a lot of our kids can't swim and that's very disappointing."
Mr Lind said ultimately it was up to parents to ensure their child was comfortable in the water.
Megan Cleverley, chief executive officer for Surf Lifesaving Bay of Plenty, said she was always amazed during their beach education programme, the number of children from inland schools in Bay of Plenty, who had never seen the ocean, or been exposed to water.
Manager of Swimways Swim School Leanne Brown, said Water Safety New Zealand stated all pupils should receive 10 Learn to Swim lessons each year.
"That is exactly what Swimways Swim School is delivering and promoting to local schools this term for the 2009 curriculum."