How to keep kids safe while swimming at beaches, pools this summer

School’s out for summer and that can only mean one thing: families are packing their beach bags and heading out for some fun in the water. Others are retreating to the backyard pools of friends and neighbors.

But as kids’ days shift to floaties and building sand castles, it’s on parents to make sure they’re safe.

“It really doesn’t take a long time for children to have problems swimming or feel like they need some help,” said Desiree Ramos Reiner, external affairs office for the American Red Cross Greater New York region, “and it’s hard to tell unless you’re really watching the kids.”

Important water tip for parents this summer: Name a ‘water watcher’

The single most important thing parents can do this summer is to designate an adult as a “water watcher,” she said.

It sounds simple, but it’s easy to get distracted by other summer concerns like setting up the picnic or scrolling on your phone, Ramos Reiner said. But it takes a diligent set of eyes to ensure kids are safe in the water.

One way to make sure there’s no confusion over who is supposed to be the water watcher is to designate the person with some sort of tag, such as a lanyard.

This is especially critical for young children and in residential pools.

Among children’s drowning incidents in the U.S. from 2018 to 2020 where the location was known, 80% were in residential settings, according to a report issued last month by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. And 91% of those drownings were kids younger than 5.

Hundreds of kids drown each year in U.S.

Even the most experienced swimmers aren’t 100% “drown-proof,” said Sarah Sebe, founder of Sunsational Swim School, which has over 2,000 certified swim instructors nationwide.

And each year, hundreds of kids drown, many of which are younger than 5.

According to the CPSC’s latest data:

• There was an average of 371 pool- or spa-related fatal drownings reported each year between 2018 and 2020 for kids younger than 15.
• Fatal drownings decreased 7% for kids younger than 15…