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With swim schools located in NSW, Victoria, ACT and Queensland, Kingswim unveiled its reinvigorated Water Safety Program on National Water Safety Day on 1st December.

The program – free to Australian families and early learning educators – has been 20 years in the making and aims to equip young Australians with the life-saving knowledge and skills they need to keep themselves, and others, safe around water.

Swimmers will be learning the importance of being safe in and around the water by participating in various safety and survival activities.

Kingswim note that “with cost-of-living pressures continuing to rise, fatal drownings increasing by 24% in the last decade, and 2023 on track to be the hottest year on record, the free education-led initiative comes at an important time for Australians.”

Starring Kingswim’s mascot, Kingsley the Platypus, the revamped program was developed by a team of passionate expert instructors and industry professionals led by Anne Brown – Area Manager of Kingswim Victoria and the project’s original founder.

The new iteration includes a series of entertaining, engaging and informative resources and services – including a catchy song, an interactive story book, and playful games – to help kids aged three to five learn, share and retain fundamental water skills.

The program will be delivered at no cost to early educators and families with two components:

1. Incursions – at early learning centres hosted by accredited Kingswim instructors with select appearances from Kingsley.
2. All-new digital resource pack – including a bespoke water safety song with a supporting music video and choreography, an educational story book featuring colouring in pages and brain puzzles, and at-home water safety games.

Initially launched in 2004, Kingswim’s Water Safety Program has already reached over 50,000 children in its original form. The refreshed version elevates the existing in-person offering and provides new digital assets, communicating vital safety information in an entertaining and memorable way.

In 2007, Brown received the Holt Australia Day Award in recognition of the foundation of the initial program and her ongoing commitment to water safety education within her community.

More than 15 years later, Brown’s passion for helping young Australians build strong affinities for water still holds strong.

Brown shares “I am very proud to reveal Kingswim’s improved Water Safety Program. Over the past 20 years, I have worked with hundreds of educators, policy makers and industry bodies to build and elevate a meaningful program that offers fun and free water safety education to young Australians and their families. Our latest iteration has been carefully crafted to help new generations absorb and retain important information and ultimately keep themselves, and their friends, safe. At Kingswim, we believe everyone should feel confident in and around water. This program will save lives.”

Olympic swimmer and mother of three, Alicia Coutts, has also backed the launch, joining Kingswim as a program ambassador.

Coutts enthuses “I am delighted to join Anne and the Kingswim team to celebrate the launch of their latest Water Safety Program. Growing up around water, I know how important it is to learn strong water skills from a young age and I’m proud to support Kingswim in helping more children feel confident in the pool.”

Kingswim is committed to ensure the safety of its community members and is taking proactive steps to promote water safety through early education. Drowning prevention is a life-long, life-saving set of skills that every Australian child should confidently possess.

Kingswim’s Water Safety Program digital resource pack is now available to download via the website. Incursion bookings are also available for Victorian early learning centres, with expansion across the rest of the eastern seaboard scheduled early 2024.

For more information, visit kingswim.com.au 

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